Poland eyes 500 American rocket launchers to boost its artillery forces – By Jaroslaw Adamowski (Defense News) / May 27, 2022
WARSAW, Poland — As Poland is accelerating a number of acquisitions amid Russia’s invasion of its neighbor Ukraine, Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak announced he has signed a letter of request to buy about 500 M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, from the United States.
“We are increasing the capabilities of our rocket and artillery forces,” Błaszczak said in a tweet released by his ministry. “I have signed an LOR related to the acquisition of about 500 M142 HIMARS launchers for more than 80 batteries of the Homar system.”
The minister said that, under the plan, a significant share of these systems would be produced by Poland-based factories, and Warsaw aims to ensure the weapons’ “integration with the Polish battlefield management system.”
In October 2018, the Polish government sent an official request to buy the Lockheed Martin-made launchers under its Homar program from the United States. The two governments signed a deal in February 2019, enabling the procurement of a total of 20 launchers in the program’s first phase.
