Mariusz Błaszczak made the declaration at a joint news conference with UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in the southeastern Polish city of Zamość on Tuesday.
New anti-aircraft systems for Poland
At a special ceremony, the Polish defence minister unveiled a new anti-aircraft system, called Mała Narew (Little Narew), which features the Common Anti-Air Modular Missile (CAMM) weaponry produced by British contractor MBDA UK, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
The Polish-British-made system was handed over to Poland’s 18th Anti-Aircraft Regiment, which is stationed in Zamość, officials said.
Next year, the weapon will also be supplied to the 15th Anti-Aircraft Regiment based in the northern Polish city of Elbląg, reporters were told.
During the event in Zamość, Błaszczak also approved a contract for the purchase of 21 new batteries of the Pilica very short-range air-defence system, which will now also include the UK-made CAMM surface-to-air missiles, according to officials.
Polish-British cooperation
Speaking to reporters alongside Wallace, Błaszczak, who also serves as a deputy prime minister, said that the Small Narew system and the new Pilica batteries “will strengthen Poland’s defence capability.”
Błaszczak added: “Both systems, alongside the [US-made] Patriot systems, represent a robust cover for the Polish skies and an effective response when it comes to threats coming from cruise missiles, for instance.”
He also said that the launch of the Small Narew system marked “another milestone of Polish-British cooperation,” the IAR news agency reported.
Błaszczak told reporters that Poland was drawing lessons from the war in Ukraine.
He said: “We know the methods being used by the Russians who are attacking Ukraine. We know how the resilience of the Ukrainian army is being built and we are in no doubt that anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence constitutes an important element of security. That is also why we have begun the process of cooperation with Britain."
Błaszczak noted that Britain's Wallace last autumn sent soldiers to help Poland deal with a "hybrid attack mounted by [Belarus strongman leader] Alexander Lukashenko’s regime on the Polish-Belarusian border.”
The Polish defence minister added that Britain had also deployed its ground-based, CAMM-based air defence system, dubbed Sky Sabre, to Poland “to help protect Polish air space.”
Moreover, "British tank troops are also stationed on Polish soil,” he told reporters.
Błaszczak noted that Poland and Britain were also "jointly building frigates that will be supplied to the Polish Navy.”
"The aim of Polish-British cooperation is to ensure the security of NATO’s eastern flank,” Błaszczak stated, thanking Wallace for his “personal contribution to strengthening Poland’s defence capabilities and bilateral security ties.”
Tuesday is day 223 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, niezalezna.pl