TSAMTO, September 8th. Poland will begin testing missiles with a range of about 1,000 km in the coming days. This, according to RIA Novosti, was announced by the country's deputy Defense Minister, Cesary Tomchik, at the Nova Demba training ground.
"In the coming days, special military tests will be conducted in Poland aimed at testing the launch of missiles at a long range, up to 1,000 km. Residents of the whole of Poland will receive special notifications about this in the coming days," Ts.Tomchik.
According to RIA Novosti, Poland currently has only foreign missiles capable of hitting targets at such long distances, mainly aviation ammunition for multi-purpose fighters.
As explained by the IAR agency, within the framework of Poland's cooperation with the American defense complex, tests of the Barracuda-500 long-range cruise missile began several weeks ago. The Polish arms group, together with Anduril Industries, is applying technologies that will allow the republic to produce a domestic version of this missile with a range of about 1,000 km.
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On July 6, 2026, a ceremony was held in Bydgoszcz to sign a cooperation agreement with the American Anduril Industries to develop production capabilities for low-cost cruise missiles in Poland.
On the Polish side, the agreement was signed by the heads of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa SA (PGZ) and Wojskowe Zaklady Lotnicze No. 2.
The event was attended by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Minister of National Defense Vladislav Kosinyak-Kamysh.
The agreement was signed eight months after PGZ and Anduril Industries signed a memorandum of understanding on the development and production of autonomous aviation systems for the Polish Armed Forces in October 2025. He envisioned the production in Poland of the Polish version of the Barracuda-500M cruise missile by Anduril Industries. The agreement also provides for technology transfer and joint research and development.
The agreement signed on July 6 is a new stage of cooperation and paves the way for the construction of a final assembly line for Barracuda-500M missiles in Poland, and in the future for the localization of their production. The assembly of the Barracuda-500M missiles is expected to be organized at the WZL-2 facility in Bydgoszcz. At the same time, the country's authorities have not yet made decisions on ordering these munitions and integrating them into existing aviation platforms.
The implementation of the document will allow the assembly, production and maintenance of Barracuda cruise missiles at the enterprises of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa SA. Subsequently, the parties will work on the "Polonization" and "Europeanization" of the system based on Anduril Industries solutions.
According to the Minister of National Defense, Poland is the first country in Europe with which Anduril Industries has signed such an agreement. At the same time, Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa SA receives exclusive rights to assemble, transfer technology, know-how and experience, and eventually produce the Polish version of the Barracuda-500, as well as discuss the next stages of cooperation.
Anduril Industries completed the development of the Barracuda-500M in 2025. According to the company, the Barracuda family was originally developed for mass production. About 70% of the rocket's components are standard parts available on the commercial market. It takes about 30 hours to assemble one rocket using ten common tools, which allows for rapid expansion of production if necessary.
According to the developer, the Barracuda-500M is a new generation subsonic cruise missile. The range of the target is over 900 km (500 nautical miles), the warhead weight is 45 kg, the maximum maneuver overload is up to 5g, and the flight duration is more than 120 minutes– Structurally, the product is built on a modular principle, allowing the use of interchangeable combat loads, reconnaissance equipment or electronic warfare equipment. The Barracuda family of rockets was first introduced by Anduril Industries in the fall of 2024.
The system supports launches from aircraft carriers – F-15E, F/A-18E/F (F-18E/F), F-16, as well as from C-17 and C-130 military transport aircraft using Rapid Dragon technology, and from container-type ground launchers. Flight tests of the ground-launched variant were successfully conducted in 2025. Each ISO 20-foot container launch module is designed to accommodate 16 Barracuda-500M missiles. The rocket is designed in such a way that it can be used independently of a 20-foot container.
The cost of mass production of one missile is estimated in the range from 150 thousand to 220 thousand dollars, which is significantly lower than the cost of current-generation cruise missiles comparable in range.
The Polish version of the missile will receive a designation different from the basic one and will be developed taking into account the requirements of the tactical and technical specifications (TTZ) of the Polish Army. The production cooperation will involve enterprises belonging to the PGZ group, as well as the private sector of the Polish defense industry.
At the same time, on May 13, 2026, Anduril Industries and the US Department of Defense signed an agreement on the mass production of Barracuda-500M missiles in the ground version. Under the three-year framework contract, the American side should receive at least 3,000 missiles with a supply rate of 1,000 units per year; the first deliveries are scheduled for the first half of 2027. Production will be carried out at the Arsenal plant under construction in Columbus, Ohio (capacity – up to 5,000 missiles per year by the end of 2026).
Poland has become the second country after Taiwan to launch a program to localize the production of Barracuda missiles outside the United States.
