Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak met in Washington with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. The head of the Polish Ministry of National Defense (MON) announced that he had talked about further support for Ukraine, as well as plans for a leap increase in Poland’s defense capabilities

“I strongly emphasized the fact that strengthening Poland’s defense capabilities means strengthening the defense capabilities of the entire eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance”, said the head of the Ministry of National Defense. He added that the bilateral talks also concerned further support for Ukraine, sanctions and the isolation of Russia, and the NATO summit in Madrid planned for June.

Mariusz Blaszczak met in the Pentagon with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. During the conversation, he heard from Lloyd Austin a declaration of support for the process of equipping the Polish army with modern equipment. The ministers discussed further deliveries of HIMARS missiles, as well as the Patriot system and more squadrons of multi-role aircraft.

“We will soon talk about combat helicopters that are needed to strengthen the defense system of the Republic of Poland”, said the head of the Ministry of National Defense.

Minister Błaszczak reminded the public that this year the first Abrams tanks will be received by the Polish Army. They are now used by the US military and they will be used to train Polish tank squads.

The purchase of combat helicopters to replace the Mi-24 was included in the technical modernization plan for 2021-35 as the “Kruk” program. A year ago, the deputy head of the Ministry of National Defense, Wojciech Skurkiewicz, announced that deliveries would not start before 2024. He also emphasized that the decision on the selection of helicopters produced by several companies in different countries must be carefully considered.

A few years ago, the following companies participated in the technical dialogue: the American Boeing with the AH-64 Apache; Bell with a lighter AH-1Z Viper; PZL Świdnik plants with the A129 helicopter and the Airbus Helicopters Group with the Tiger.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński