Poland signed an 8 billion zloty framework agreement, worth about $2.2 billion, for several thousand domestically made Piorun air-defense launchers and missiles. The package also includes training and logistics support.
The agreement was concluded at the MESKO plant in Skarzysko-Kamienna between the state Armaments Agency and the Polish manufacturer. It links a major national production program with procurement by several allied governments.
More than 80% of the order will equip Poland's armed forces. Lithuania, Latvia and Norway will receive the remainder through the European Union's Security Action for Europe loan mechanism for joint defense purchases.
Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz described the arrangement as the first of its kind built around a consortium of allied states rather than private companies. Warsaw sees it as evidence that Poland can combine high defense spending with a larger export role.
Piorun is a very short-range system designed to engage low-flying aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles and drones. The order expands allied stocks of mobile air defense while anchoring manufacturing, maintenance and operational training in Poland.
