Poland to get new air defence shield thanks to new £4bn deal with UK
Poland is getting a next-generation air defence system thanks to a deal worth more than £4bn involving defence giant MBDA.
The partnership will continue the next phase of Poland's Narew programme, bolstering European security in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
MBDA signed a sub-contract with Polish company PGZ to continue the programme that will give Polish forces enhanced ground-based air defence systems.
The deal will lead to the supply of over 1,000 Common Anti-Air Modular Missiles - Extended Range (CAMM-ER) and over 100 launchers.
These will allow the Polish military to engage air threats such as cruise missiles and strike aircraft at ranges in excess of 40km.
The £4bn deal is the largest commercial agreement ever secured between the UK and Poland and will help bolster the security of both Nato countries.
The partnership will see British engineers from Bolton, Bristol and Stevenage working with their Polish counterparts, sharing skills in both countries for more than 15 years.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the deal was "another crucial step forward for our historic defence ties with Poland".
He added the supply of next-generation air defence capabilities would "act as a clear deterrent to our adversaries".
"We continue to fully back our thriving UK defence industry, and this landmark export deal is yet another example of the huge potential our collective defence sectors boast," he said.
The deal will also see the UK support Poland in manufacturing complex missiles domestically.
Chris Allam, the managing director of MBDA UK, said the scale and ambition of Poland's Narew programme was truly impressive, protecting "the entirety of Poland's skies".
"The transfer of technology in Narew will be transformative for Poland's sovereign complex weapons capabilities, and we are deeply proud of the trust placed in us by Poland and excited for the future of our partnership with PGZ," he said.
The Narew system will utilise the CAMM-ER missile, which was developed between the UK and Italy, alongside Polish radars, vehicles and other equipment together with the United States’ Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS).
The UK and Poland are close allies, with British troops deployed to the country in their hundreds at any one time - including recent deployments of Challenger 2 tanks and Sky Sabre air defence systems.
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