UK And Poland Sign New Record Air Defense System Deal
The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense announced on 7 November the signing of a contract worth over £4 billion for the next phase of Poland’s NAREW mid-tier air defense system.
According to missile manufacturer MBDA, the contract between it and the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) concludes the terms of transfer of key knowledge and technologies to PGZ, enabling the implementation of executive contracts for the latter’s manufacturing of over 1,000 MBDA Common Anti-Air Modular Missile – Extended Range (CAMM-ER) and over 100 iLaunchers for the missiles.
The value of the deal, estimated to be over £4 billion (over $4.88 billion), makes it the largest ever defense contract signed between the United Kingdom and Poland, surpassing the £1.9 billion deal signed between MBDA and PGZ in April for CAMM missiles and launchers to be used in the PILICA+ inner-tier missile defense project.
Eric Béranger, CEO of MBDA, said:
“The scale and ambition of NAREW is truly impressive – building a Polish air defence shield using our CAMM family missiles and iLaunchers that will protect 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 the eleven members of the PGZ-NAREW Consortium.”
The UK had announced in November 2021 that CAMM-ER had been “confirmed” for use in NAREW, which will provide the Polish military with a enhanced ground-based air defense system utilizing CAMM-ER to engage air threats like cruise missiles and fighter jets at ranges of over 40 kilometers.
“This is another crucial step forward for our historic defence ties with Poland, supplying next generation air defence capabilities to act as a clear deterrent to our adversaries”, said UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps in a statement announcing the deal. “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.”