The Patriot air defence system has been frequently talked about recently. Few people know, however, that one of the main designers of this technology was a Pole, Zdzisław Starostecki, a veteran of General Władysław Anders’ Army.

Zdzisław Starostecki was born on 8 February 1919 in Łódź. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, he began his military service. As a soldier of the Independent Operational Group “Polesie”, he took part in the Battle of Kock, regarded as the last battle of the 1939 September Campaign. After the surrender of the Polish troops, he arrived in occupied Warsaw, joining the underground Union of Armed Struggle.

At the beginning of 1940, he decided to break through to the Polish forces in France. Unfortunately, he was captured by the NKVD and sent to a gulag in Kolyma for 8 years. After several escape attempts, he managed to take advantage of the opportunity to join the Anders Army being formed in the Soviet Union. He followed its entire combat route, fighting at Monte Cassino and Bologna; in the meantime, being promoted to lieutenant. After a few years in the UK, he moved to the United States, where he studied at Stevens Institute of Technology. He then worked as a draftsman before joining the US Army’s Defence Research Centre in 1960.

There, the Pole became involved in advanced military technology. However, he was not immediately assigned to constructing anti-aircraft weapons. Starostecki’s first task was to work on the design of cannon shells carrying nuclear warheads. He then worked on anti-tank weapons, which was the next step before taking over as head of the group of scientists working on the Patriot system. The success of this weapon is largely due to the Pole.  It is capable of shooting down manned and unmanned aircraft as well as missiles, including some equipped with nuclear warheads.  It is armed with an advanced computer capable of preparing the best configuration for a missile launch. It can also calculate the flight trajectory and works with the missile’s built-in autopilot.

Although the Anders Army veteran died on 31 December 2010 in Sarasota, USA, and therefore before the system was handed over to Poland, he expressed pride before his death that the launchers were to be used in his homeland. The Polish Army is currently setting up the Vistula system, incorporating Patriot launchers.