Poland receives 1st US-made HIMARS rocket launchers amid Ukraine war

Poland has received the first shipment of the US-made HIMARS multiple rocket launchers to deploy in the region bordering Russia.

Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak and senior military officials attended the acquisition ceremony at a Warsaw air base on Monday.

The minister said the launchers will go to the 1st Artillery Brigade in northeastern Poland. “This weapon will be deployed in the northeastern part of our country.”

“Their task will be to deter (an) aggressor and strengthen Poland’s armed forces on the nation’s and NATO eastern flank.”

Warsaw had said in March that the long-range precision rocket systems would be stationed in the military unit based in Olsztyn, about 80 kilometers from the border with Russia's Kaliningrad enclave.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Blaszczak said, “We are watching the developments in Ukraine, and we know that artillery has a key role in the war, in repelling the Russian invasion.”

Poland bought 20 HIMARS from the United States in 2019. Under the contract, Poland is spending some $414 million to buy 18 advanced combat HIMARS launchers and two HIMARS training launchers, with ammunition and related equipment. The deal includes logistics and training.

A HIMARS academy is to be launched in the city of Torun to provide logistics, servicing and training, including for troops from other NATO countries that have or plan to get the launchers.

Produced by American aerospace company Lockheed Martin, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) has a range of up to some 300 kilometers developed in the late 1990s for the US armed forces.

Poland is modernizing its armed forces. Warsaw has signed major contracts with the US and South Korea to that end. Some of the military equipment will replace weapons – including over a dozen Soviet-made MiG-29 jet fighters – which Poland agreed to give Ukraine for the war.

Germany offers Patriot missile system to Poland amid Ukraine war

NATO has already confirmed there was no sign Russia was preparing an attack against the military alliance.

Last year, Poland received a number of US Patriot missile systems. Deliveries of another battery are expected this year. The first deliveries of Abrams tanks have also arrived from the US. Warsaw has also received deliveries of tanks and howitzers from South Korea.

On February 24, 2022, President Vladimir Putin of Russia announced a “special military operation” aimed at “demilitarization” of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine.

In 2014, the two regions had declared themselves new republics, refusing to recognize Ukraine’s Western-backed government. Announcing the operation, Putin said the mission was aimed at “defending people who for eight years are suffering persecution and genocide by the Kiev regime.” 

Since then, the United States and its European allies have imposed unprecedented waves of economic sanctions against Moscow while supplying large consignments of heavy weaponry to Kiev. Moscow has been critical of the weapons supplies to Kiev, warning that they will prolong the war.

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