A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon test-fires an AIM-120D-3 missile at Eglin Test and Training Range, Fla., in 2023. Poland has signed an $850 million contract to purchase several hundred of the radar-guided AIM-120C model to enhance its air defense capabilities in response to growing security concerns about Russia. (U.S. Air Force)
Poland has agreed to an $850 million contract with the United States to purchase several hundred missiles to bolster the country’s air defense.
Polish defense officials announced the contract signing for the AIM-120C medium-range air-to-air missiles guided missiles on Friday.
“An adequate supply of air combat assets is a requirement to maintain the security of our airspace,” Pawel Bejda, secretary of state for Poland’s Defense Ministry, said about the agreement on his official X social media account.
The missiles will be delivered over four years starting in 2029, Poland’s Armament Agency said in a statement Friday.
The radar-guided missiles have a beyond-visual range of up to 111 miles. They can be used by a variety of aircraft flown by the United States and its allies, including the F-16, a plane Polish air forces have flown since 2006.
Poland will use the missiles with its current inventory of combat jets, the armament agency said.
Polish defense officials did not say how many missiles they were buying. But the weapons are part of a larger agreement inked this past spring with the United States to modernize in the face of concerns about Russia.
The State Department in March gave the NATO ally approval to purchase 1,800 missiles of three different types in a deal worth nearly $3.7 billion, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said at the time. That deal included authorization for the sale of 745 AIM-120C-8 missiles for just under $1.7 billion.
Poland already has each of the three missiles in its inventory, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The other two types are the AGM-158B-2 joint air-to-surface standoff missile with extended range and the AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile.
The United States also has offered to sell Poland 96 AH-64 Apache helicopters in a deal that could be finalized in the coming days.
In early August, the V Corps forward headquarters in Poland conducted a two-day Apache training program in Wroclaw designed to “set the stage for aviation integration,” according to an Army statement.
