Poland Budges on Purchase of Anti-Russia Missiles From US

Poland’s new defense minister Antoni Macierewicz announced that the government is suspending its agreement with the US defense contractor Raytheon for Patriot missiles, complaining that the contract’s cost is too high while the term of delivery is too long.

Macierewicz claimed that the multi-billion-euro contract signed by the previous cabinet of ministers to buy American Patriot Missile Systems will be halted, Defense News reported.

The same fate has befallen the billion-euro contract with Airbus for helicopters.

At the same time Poland doesn’t aim to refuse the purchase, but wants to reconsider the conditions of the contracts, according to the US media.

Last April, Warsaw announced a plan to acquire missiles at an estimated €5 billion ($5.3 million). The news outlet stressed that the negotiations were held with the background of the deterioration of relations between Russia and the West in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.

The Polish defense minister has now put into question the very existence of the deal. On Wednesday, during a parliamentary defense commission meeting, he noted that the conditions of “the potential contracts have changed a lot since the public announcement."

"The price is much higher, the delivery time much longer… in short, this contract is practically non-existent," Macierewicz said, explaining the decision made by authorities.

Moreover, the military officials would possibly look into the opportunity to make another agreement on armament supplement if the price wasn’t lowered.

"The defense ministry will move towards repeating the tender if the results of the offset talks make it impossible to ink the deal."

Macierewicz named the US manufacturer Sikorsky and British-Italian group AgustaWestland as potential competitors.