Deputy PM vows to bolster Poland’s air defences to deter Russia
Wesprzyj naszą pracę na Go Fund Me. Dziękujemy!A Polish deputy prime minister has said that Poland will keep strengthening its anti-aircraft and anti-rocket capabilities to deter potential aggressors amid Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak meets reporters at the Warsaw-Bemowo airport, on Monday, February 20, 2023.PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Mariusz Błaszczak made the declaration in Warsaw on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The deputy prime minister, who is also Poland’s defence minister, visited troops training on new short-range anti-aircraft and anti-rocket weapons at the Bemowo airfield in the Polish capital.
This new short-range air defence system, called Mała Narew (Little Narew), features the Common Anti-Air Modular Missile (CAMM) weaponry produced by British contractor MBDA UK, according to news outlets.
Błaszczak told a media briefing: “This is yet another example of cooperation between the Polish arms industry and defence contractors from fellow NATO countries.”
Expanding Poland’s 'anti-aircraft and anti-rocket capabilities’
Błaszczak said that the medium-range Patriot air defence system and the short-range Narew represented “a breakthrough” for the Polish army and “are a serious asset when it comes to deterrence.”
He declared: “We are going to expand and strengthen both systems. We are going to consistently expand our anti-aircraft and anti-rocket capabilities.”
Błaszczak noted that the British-made Sky Sabre air defence system had also been deployed to Poland to protect its skies.
Monday’s exercises were conducted by soldiers from the 18th Mechanised Division, which is stationed in the eastern city of Siedlce. They had received the Narew system last October, reporters were told.
Błaszczak said that troops from the 16th Mechanised Division from northern Poland would soon be trained on the same equipment, before receiving their own Narew system in June.
Major air-defence drills soon
Meanwhile, large-scale drills are set to take place in the coming weeks, featuring „all layers” of Poland’s air defences, including the Patriot, Narew and very short-range Piorun and Poprad systems, the PAP news agency reported.
Monday’s exercises were designed to train the ability to relocate the Narew system outside its place of deployment as part of procedures to strengthen the air defences of Warsaw, officials said.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, polska-zbrojna.pl
