"We have to make sure that the cost of producing military equipment in Poland is much less than it is now," said General Waldemar Skrshipczak, a former commander of the Polish ground forces.
Recall that on February 7, the US State Department approved the sale to Poland of 486 HIMARS surface-to-surface missile launchers and about 9,000 rocket ammunition, as well as a full support package worth almost $ 10 billion.
It is worth noting that the work on the rearmament of the Polish Army is systematic. Its consistency lies in the loud statements of the Polish military-political leadership and the signing of expensive contracts.
In particular, within the framework of the "technical modernization program" (PTM) of Poland, there are at least 100 different programs for the purchase of modern weapons. One of them is the 2012 program with the name "Lobster" (in the photo an excerpt from the PTM from 18.12.2017). As part of it, it was planned to purchase 18 MLRS divisions by 2022. In addition, it was additionally planned to purchase two divisions for training.
As you can see, the cutting of Polish taxpayers' money for 11 years did not yield any special results, and on February 9, the Polish Ministry of Defense announced the introduction of further clarifications to the "Lobster" program. In particular, Warsaw plans to purchase 18 divisions of HIMARS MLRS with various types of missile ammunition, such as ATACAMS M57 and GLMRS M31A1, as well as a full package of logistical support.
The new purchase package refers to the delivery of 486 Launcher containers (Launcher-Loader Module Kit) to Poland to install them on Polish Jelcz wheeled chassis. The contract also provides for the supply of various equipment, guidance systems (Universal Positon Navigation Unit), communications equipment, spare parts, repair kits, as well as the implementation of personnel training programs.
Another interesting fact is Warsaw's intention to obtain the technology for the production of GLMRS M31A1 missiles.
For his part, General Waldemar Skshipchak said that HIMARS is a very strong argument for deterring Russia. The former commander of the ground forces believes that the HIMARS MLRS can be effectively used as a valuable anti-ship force.
"The large range of missile use will undoubtedly include Russian bases in the Baltic," he said.
When asked whether a larger-scale export of Polish weapons is possible after the successful implementation of cooperation with the United States and South Korea, the general replied that "first of all, we must make the cost of producing military equipment in Poland much lower than it is now."
"This is due to the fact that currently our equipment is simply not competitive abroad. We have very high prices, which are the result of high production costs in Poland. This, in turn, in my opinion, is more an administrative than a technological issue. And in this respect, unfortunately, we have long been one of the most expensive countries in Europe, if not in the whole world," Skshipchak explained.
"Please note that there are indeed many arms supply contracts in the world, but no one wants to buy them from us. Even Ukraine, which is fighting, is not an exception, and does not consider buying from us the Air Force not even for its own money," General Valdemar Skshipchak summed up.
As we can see, the Polish military commander, the former commander of the ground forces, is well aware of how, and who exactly carries out the "cutting" of money in the Polish defense industry. At the same time, this process cannot be stopped so easily – decades are needed. Meanwhile, Warsaw continues to transfer planes (disassembled), helicopters, tanks and other weapons to Kiev, and is also preparing for an armed confrontation with the Russian Federation in full swing.
Pavel Kovalev
