Poland, United States sign $4.75 billion deal on Patriot missiles

[Swordsmyth]

Poland signed the largest weapons procurement deal in its history on Wednesday, agreeing with the United States to buy Raytheon Co’s Patriot missile defense system for $4.75 billion as it modernizes its forces to face a bolder Russia.
“It is an extraordinary, historic moment; it is Poland’s introduction into a whole new world of state-of-the-art technology, modern weaponry, and defensive means,” Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said during the signing ceremony.
NATO member Poland has sped up efforts to overhaul its armory following Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014 and Moscow’s renewed military and political assertiveness in the region. Two-thirds of Polish weaponry dates from the era when the country was in the Moscow-led Warsaw Pact.
The Patriot deal comes as a relief for Poland which remains in tense relations with Washington, its main NATO ally, over a bill that Warsaw introduced in January to impose jail terms for any suggestion of Poland’s complicity in the Holocaust.

More at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-r...-idUSKBN1H417S

[goldenequity]

Poland Offers $2 Billion for Permanent US Military Base
https://news.antiwar.com/2018/05/27/...military-base/

Document called 'Proposal for a US Permanent Presence in Poland' prepared by the Polish Defense Ministry.

'a permanent US armored division deployed in Poland'

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Russia vows to respond if US builds new military base in Poland
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article...ase-in-poland/

[Swordsmyth]

Poland Offers $2 Billion for Permanent US Military Base
https://news.antiwar.com/2018/05/27/...military-base/

Document called 'Proposal for a US Permanent Presence in Poland' prepared by the Polish Defense Ministry.

'a permanent US armored division deployed in Poland'

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Russia vows to respond if US builds new military base in Poland
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article...ase-in-poland/

Belarus has no plans to allow Russia to base troops on its territory, its foreign minister said on Thursday, but could review that if, for example, Poland were to host a permanent U.S. military presence.Vladimir Makei, in Brussels to press a case for expanded cooperation with the European Union, told reporters that Minsk wanted to reduce tensions in the region and maintain good relations with the West and with its former rulers in Moscow. It felt a U.S. base in Poland would increase regional "mistrust".

Asked if Polish proposals to host a U.S. base amid fears of Russian aggression could prompt Belarus to revise its rejection of any Russian base, Makei said: "I think there will be some reaction to this intention to deploy a new military air base.

"Nothing is impossible ... As of today ... we are not going to deploy new foreign military bases on the territory of Belarus because we would like to contribute to security in our region and we don't want to be a troublemaker.

"So we are not going to deploy right now new military bases. But looking to the future we should take into account the future steps which will be taken by our neighbors."

More at: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/ar...n-base-for-now