On the night of July 6^th, the Minister of National Defense of POLAND Anthony MATSEREVICH announced the signing of a memorandum, according to which the US government agrees to sell POLAND several batteries of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system in the latest configuration similar to that used in the US Armed Forces.

According to the minister, the configuration in which the complex is purchased is specially adapted to the requirements of POLAND (it should be noted that the Armed Forces of any other country in the world have not previously received Patriot missile systems adapted to their requirements).

Modernization of the air defense system is one of the priority projects in the long-term development plan of the Polish Armed Forces. The system should be mobile and ensure the protection of important facilities and groups of troops on the territory of the country, as well as contingents of the Polish Armed Forces abroad. The purchase will be made within the framework of the program for the supply of an air defense / medium-range defense system of the „VISTULA project“. The SAM should be part of the echeloned air defense system of POLAND.

The minister stressed the urgency of the acquisition of the complex in connection with the deployment of Iskander OTRK by RUSSIA and stated that the Patriot should effectively combat this threat. A. MATSYREVICH noted the merits of the administration of President Donald TRUMP in accelerating the process of purchasing the SAM. It is noteworthy that the memorandum was signed on the eve of the US president's visit to WARSAW.

According to A. MATSEREVICH, the first batteries of the Patriot missile systems should be delivered to POLAND in 2022. At the same time, the Polish Armed Forces are implementing a program for the acquisition of MLRS / OTRK "Homar" (the main bidder for the supply of technology is the American concern Lockheed Martin), which must provide protection against "any enemy threatening POLAND."

Thus, it can be assumed that the government of the party "Law and Justice" managed to "wring out" its American partners and make concessions concerning the basic requirements in the delivery of air defense systems and missile systems.

As reported by CAMTO, in 2015 the Ministry of National Defense of POLAND has chosen the American company "Raytheon", which proposed the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system, as the winner of the tender of the program for the purchase of the air defense / medium-range defense system for the medium-range „VISTULA project“, but the party "Law and Justice" won the elections in October In 2015 and froze this decision. The Minister of National Defense of Poland, A. MATSEREVICH, stated that the terms of the contract, on the conclusion of which the previous government was negotiating, "did not guarantee the provision of defense potential in the period until 2023-2030." And, thus, "did not meet the mandatory requirements for maintaining the defensive capabilities of POLAND." In addition, claims were voiced concerning the cost of the supplied complexes. Nevertheless, the negotiations continued.

On September 6, 2016, Raytheon announced that the Polish leadership had decided to send an official request to the USA for the delivery of the latest configuration configuration, PATRIOT Configuration 3+, with an integrated air defense/missile defense management system. According to the information of the American company, it has already signed eight contracts and 30 letters of commitment with the enterprises of the Polish industry, which will become part of the offset program if an agreement is concluded.

In March 2017, the Polish government sent a letter to the US administration with an updated request for a Letter of Request (LoR) of the ground-based air defense / missile defense system Patriot within the framework of the „VISTULA project“. This document marked the beginning of the final stage of negotiations with the US authorities and companies participating in the project (Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman). It can be assumed that the parties managed to agree on the terms of the final agreement, details of which have not yet been disclosed. Earlier it was reported that the contract for the delivery of the Patriot missile systems could be signed before the end of 2017. Within the framework of the „VISTULA project“, POLAND intends to buy eight Patriot batteries. The condition for the purchase was a broad transfer of technology and the establishment of a number of components in POLAND.