Poland Seeks Cruise Missile for Submarines
Poland is planning to get advanced cruise missiles for its submarines, the country’s defense minister has said, implying that the NATO member state is taking precautionary measures against a rising Russian threat, says a report in AP.
Tomasz Siemoniak said that he has asked the United States about the availability of Raytheon's Tomahawk cruise missiles, an advanced system which Poland needs to equip its submarines with by 2030.
“Last year, I decided that Polish vessels should be able (to launch cruise missiles) and we are speaking to all those able to deliver this kind of weapon, including the Americans,” Siemoniak said, adding that the procedures to initiate the submarine tender could be launched this year.
Poland has said it would significantly increase military spending, particularly after Russia’s annexation of Crimea last year, to deter any aggression.
“The plan for naval forces is getting three submarines by 2030,” Tomasz Siemoniak said. “We want to start proceedings this year. It will require resolving many complicated matters and production will take several years.”
If purchased, the cruise missiles would be fitted into the country’s new submarine force, and would give Poland the ability to strike targets at a range of more than 600 miles with a missile carrying a 1000-pound warhead.
The most likely supplier of the missiles is the US firm Raytheon, the producer of the tomahawk cruise missile. Used extensively against targets in Iraq, its destructive and lethal capabilities have given it a formidable reputation – although so far the UK remains the missile’s only foreign operator.
If Washington greenlights the sale of Tomahawks to Warsaw, they could compete in the Polish tender against France's MdCN missile systems exclusively used to equip submarines made by the country's DCNS group.
Looking east to the bloody conflict gripping Ukraine, Poland has kicked off an unprecedented military spending spree worth some 33.6 billion euros ($42 billion) to overhaul its forces over a decade.
Siemoniak also said Poland’s navy will get new ships next year, for the first time since 1985, while the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s newest high-readiness force being put together to allow the bloc to reach any point of conflict within days will hold exercises in Poland in June.
