Mariusz Błaszczak's trip to America early next month will focus on "consultations with the US arms industry," including talks on the planned deliveries of Abrams tanks and F-35 fighter jets to Poland, officials have said.
The news came after Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki this month held talks with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House during a three-day visit to the United States.
Morawiecki at the time visited a factory in Georgia that manufactures the F-35 aircraft and toured a facility in Alabama that produces Abrams tanks, according to media reports.
He also met with executives from Lockheed Martin, America's biggest defence contractor, to discuss options to speed up the delivery of US military equipment to Poland, according to officials.
Earlier this year, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed into law the country’s budget for 2023, which expects defence spending to grow to 3 percent of GDP, above the NATO target of 2 percent for its members to spend on their security.
Including expenditure from the extra-budgetary Armed Forces Support Fund, which is financed by government-secured bonds, Poland plans to spend 4 percent of its GDP on defence in 2023, according to officials.
In January, the Polish government signed a USD 1.4 billion deal to buy 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks from the United States as part of efforts to bolster Poland's defences in the face of Russia's war in Ukraine.
In April last year, Poland signed a USD 4.74 billion deal to buy 250 Abrams battle tanks, "in the most modern M1A2 SEPv3 version," from the United States in what officials hailed as a key step in boosting the country’s defences amid Russia's war against Ukraine.
In January 2020, Poland ordered 32 F-35A multi-role fighters from US defence company Lockheed Martin under a USD 4.6 billion deal, according to reports at the time.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP