The PLN 1.1 billion (EUR 230 million) deal was approved by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak in Warsaw on Wednesday, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
The new batch of 22 Bystra redeployable radar systems will be used by Poland’s planned very short-range air-defence system, Pilica+, according to officials.
The Polish-produced Pilica+ will be part of Poland’s multi-layered air defences, which also include the Polish-British-made Mała Narew (Small Narew) system and the US-made Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system, reporters were told.
The Pilica+ system will provide cover for the Patriot batteries, among other functions, according to experts.
'Effective deterrence of the aggressor'
Announcing the new contract for the Bystra radar systems, Błaszczak said: “We are building up the anti-aircraft and anti-rocket capabilities of the Polish army, by adding new layers of anti-aircraft and anti-rocket defence.”
The defence minister added: “We are strengthening the Polish army so that the Kremlin leader, who is trying to revive the Russian empire, doesn’t dare attack Poland.”
Błaszczak vowed that Poland’s armed forces would continue to be “expanded and modernised,” and stressed that the country was “learning the lessons of the war in Ukraine, in terms of which types of forces are the most important.”
In this context, he cited artillery and armoured forces, as well as anti-aircraft and anti-rocket defence, which he said “also plays a key role,” the PAP news agency reported.
The defence minister stated: “That’s why we are investing in the kind of weapons that will enable the Polish army to effectively defend the country, as well as implement the NATO doctrine of effective defence and effective deterrence of the aggressor.”
Błaszczak met with reporters at the state-run Warsaw-based PIT Radwar company, the maker of the Bystra systems.
He told the media that the government sought to buy arms from domestic producers “whenever possible” and thanked PIT Radwar and its parent company, the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ), "for their work."
Bystra radars for Poland’s air defence
Under Wednesday’s PLN 1.1 billion (EUR 230 million) deal, the Polish army will receive 22 Bystra redeployable radar systems, to be delivered between 2026 and 2028, officials said.
In 2019, Poland ordered 16 Bystra systems in a PLN 635 million (EUR 135.5 million) deal. This order is slated for delivery between 2023 and 2025, the PAP news agency reported.
The Bystra redeployable radar systems can detect and track typical air threats such as combat aircraft and helicopters, as well as missiles, drones and mortar shells, according to officials.
The systems have a range of 80 kilometres, according to the PAP news agency.
Wednesday is day 399 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, pitradwar.com