U.S. State Department green-lights sale of more Patriots to Poland

Despite State Department approval, the notification did not indicate that a contract had been signed or that negotiations had concluded.

European interest in U.S. weaponry has increased with demand centered around such supplies as munitions, air defenses, communications equipment, shoulder-fired Javelin missiles and drones which have proven critical to Ukraine's war efforts.

"The Government of Poland has requested to buy phase two of a two-phase program for an Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) enabled PATRIOT Configuration-3+ with modernized sensors and components, including: forty-eight (48) PATRIOT M903 Launch Stations; up to six hundred forty-four (644) PATRIOT Advanced Capability (PAC) 3 Missile Segment Enhanced (MSE) missiles; forty-eight (48) Launcher Interface Network Kits (LINKs); twelve (12) Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensors (LTAMDS); and twelve (12) Large Tactical Power Systems (LTPS) for the LTAMDS," the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement released on Wednesday.

"Also included is communications equipment; tools and test equipment; support equipment; generators; spare parts; repair parts; Global Positioning System PPS (SAASM) receivers; modification kits; U.S. Government and contractor technical, engineering, and logistics support services for planning, execution, Systems Integration and Checkout (SICO), flight test activities, field office support and training; and other related elements of logistics and program support," the agency added.

The DSCA has set the maximum value of the potential deal at 15 billion dollars (approx. 61.5 billion zlotys). In line with American prodecures, the governments of Poland and the USA will now proceed to price negotiations, so the final price should be lower - the question is by how much.

However, this will certainly be the biggest military contract in the history of Poland. The current highest arms deal signed by Poland is the 2018 contract on Patriot systems worth 4.75 billion dollars.

The DSCA also notified Congress of the possible sale on Wednesday and said Raytheon Corp and Lockheed Martin were the prime contractor for the weapons.

"This is an incredibly important upgrade of Polish anti-aircraft defence system. We are now waiting for U.S. Congress' approval," Poland's Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said on Twitter.