IRIA News

U.S. Army delivered an initial shipment of High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers to Poland. Warsaw placed an order for 20 HIMARS launchers in 2019 for $414 million.

U.S. defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin highlighted in a statement that subsequent shipments of its HIMARS launchers will be delivered later this year resulting in additional capabilities for Poland. “HIMARS provides immediate capability to deliver long range precision fires at distances up to 300 km and is interoperable with procured defense systems,” the company’s statement added.

The HIMARS launchers delivery ceremony was attended by Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Mariusz Błaszczak and United States Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard R. Verma.

Poland’s Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczk highlighted, “As the example of Ukraine shows, artillery plays an important role in armed conflicts.” He further added that “Our ambition is to strengthen the Polish army as quickly as possible… We will have a lot of firepower in a relatively short space of time.”

#Himars are already in Poland🇵🇱. The ceremony of transferring the launchers to the equipment of the Polish Armed Forces🇵🇱 was attended by Deputy Prime Minister @mblaszczak and Richard R. Verma – United States Deputy Secretary of State🇺🇸. pic.twitter.com/i3ZwjY8dlJ

— Poland MOD 🇵🇱 (@Poland_MOD) May 15, 2023

Poland is also negotiating with the United States to jointly manufacture HIMARS launchers and Javelin missiles. The country has also announced that it will establish a HIMARS service center this year as Warsaw seeks to make additional HIMARS deals with the United States.

According to Poland’s Ministry of National Defense, the newly arrived HIMARS will go to the country’s tactical formation of the 16th Mechanized Division and will be deployed near the Russian border. The rocket launchers will be integrated with the Polish TOPAZ Integrated Combat Management System.

By taking the delivery of U.S.-made HIMARS, Poland became the sixth country to use this system after Ukraine, Romania, Singapore, UAE, and Jordan. The next shipment of HIMARS launchers is expected to arrive in Poland by the end of 2023.

The M142 HIMARS is a long-range, mobile, precision fire launcher interoperable with C2 systems. It is described by the U.S. military as a full-spectrum, combat-proven, all-weather, 24/7, lethal and responsive, wheeled precision strike weapons system.  HIMARS is rapidly deployable by C-130, quickly enhancing combat effectiveness.

Vice president of Precision Fires for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fires Control, Jay Price said, “The combat-proven HIMARS will provide credible deterrence against aggression and significantly increase [the] capability of the Polish Armed Forces and their NATO allies.”

Over the last 10 years, Lockheed Martin has invested $1.8 billion in Poland. The American defense company has partnered with the Polish Ministry of Defense on several defense and security programs and providing vital capabilities to Polish Armed Forces.

Pierwsze Himarsy już w 🇵🇱
–
✅Trafią do @16Dywizja;
✅Niebawem Akademia #Himars w #Toruń;
✅Negocjujemy kolejną umowę w sprawie Himarsów;
✅Dostarczane wyrzutnie rakietowe zostaną zintegrowane z polskim systemem zarządzania walką TOPAZ
–
Więcej📸na https://t.co/DTwMIYV4On pic.twitter.com/VY5TBvC4bA

— Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej 🇵🇱 (@MON_GOV_PL) May 15, 2023

Separately on May 15, American defense firm Northrop Grumman delivered key components of the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) for Poland’s medium-range air defense program. The company’s statement highlighted that the delivery of IBCS would further facilitate Poland’s advanced air and missile defense program.

According to vice president and general manager of Combat Systems and Mission Readiness at Northrop Grumman, Rebecca Torzone, “IBCS provides Polish air defenders with the ability to make faster, better-informed decisions to deter, disrupt and defeat threats across all domains”.

The Northrop Grumman statement highlighted that “IBCS has proven its capability to connect and fuse multi-service sensor data to multi-service weapons, demonstrating Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) capabilities”.

The company’s statement further added, “IBCS architecture enables the efficient and affordable integration of current and future systems and extends the battlespace by disaggregating sensors and effectors… By enabling this high level of network integration, the warfighter is given unprecedented time to make accurate decisions”.