Poland has left three countries behind: A Patriot missile service center will be built here
A maintenance center for the PAC-3 missiles of Patriot air defense systems will be built in Poland. According to the country's Ministry of Defense, Poland surpassed Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway in the selection process for the project.
Poland outpaced three countries: Patriot missile service center to be built here
Polish Deputy Defense Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka announced this on October 27. She called this decision "historic."
In a comment to the TVP Info channel, the deputy minister stated that until now, the US had been reluctant to share the relevant technology and expertise. In her view, the construction of the center in Poland reinforces the country's security and testifies to US support.
AFP reported, citing Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, that the project cost is nearly 230 million euros. Construction is expected to be completed within a few months.
The next goal — missile production
Warsaw hopes that the service center will pave the way for producing missiles for Patriot systems within the country in the future. However, the current decision applies to the technical service center, and missile production is still mentioned as a prospective goal.
In September, Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said that if the US grants the relevant license to Ukraine, Poland proposes to build a Patriot missile factory on its territory. She explained this as an opportunity to locate production in a "safe zone."
At the same time, the deputy minister emphasized that Poland's efforts to establish a service center and subsequently production facilities do not depend on decisions regarding Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on September 25 that Donald Trump had made a "final decision" on granting Kyiv licenses to produce Patriot missiles.
Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, however, recalled that the US president had made such statements before and later expressed doubts in this regard.
At the end of August, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski said that the country possesses the capacity to produce PAC-3 interceptor missiles and is ready to cooperate with Ukraine. According to him, the possibility of joint production could also be considered.
Patriot systems play an important role in protecting Ukrainian cities and infrastructure from Russian ballistic missiles. Kyiv has repeatedly reported a shortage of missiles for these systems.