The firing drill will be attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The Mała Narew (Small Narew) system is made up of the UK-produced Common Anti-Air Modular Missile (CAMM) weaponry and iLauncher missile launchers, according to officials.
Poland placed a PLN 1.65 billion (EUR 371 million) order for these weapons with defence contractor MBDA, as an “urgent requirement,” amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in April last year, the PAP news agency reported.
iLaunchers, CAMM missiles
Poland ordered two batteries of the air defence system, with each battery consisting of three iLaunchers, and each iLauncher housing eight CAMM missiles, officials said.
In October, the first battery was successfully delivered to the Polish army, according to the Army Recognition website.
MBDA’s CAMM iLaunchers for the Polish army are integrated with a Polish Jelcz truck chassis, the PAP news agency reported.
The UK-produced system is a multi-channel solution, meaning that at any given time, each CAMM missile can be assigned to track and combat a different air threat, according to experts.
Thus a battery can target 24 different air threats at the same time, the PAP news agency reported.
CAMM will also deliver “a major enhancement” to the capabilities of Poland's very short-range Pilica+ air-defence system, Army Recognition reported.
CAMM, which first entered service with the British armed forces in 2018, is a radar-guided, all-weather, surface-to-air anti-air missile designed to defeat air threats, the PAP news agency reported.
The Polish government also plans to use CAMM to equip further batteries of the US-made Patriot system, which makes up the medium-range layer of Poland’s air defence, according to news outlets.
New Patriot batteries ordered from the United States would feature CAMM as “a cheaper supplement to the PAC-3 MSE missiles,” the PAP news agency reported.
Moreover, CAMM “will also equip Poland’s future maritime air defence system on board the Miecznik(Swordfish)-class frigates,” according to the Army Recognition website.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Wednesday is day 483 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, defence24.pl, gov.pl, armyrecognition.com