The SkyGuardian purchase comes months after Kosiniak-Kamysz announced the creation of a so-called “Drone Force,” following the model that Ukraine created earlier this year.
“Acquiring and processing satellite imaging data in real time can provide an advantage on the modern battlefield,” said Krzysztof Trofiniak, PGZ President of the Management Board.
Poland’s defense minister teased further deals, saying “The Polish army needs hundreds of thousands of drones, primarily reconnaissance, which will cooperate with Apache helicopters. We are working on this together with the American government.”
“I accepted with satisfaction the assessment and opinion of the generals and Minister Siewiera that my efforts make sense for Poland to become part of many systems, which should ultimately create an iron dome as tight as possible over the Polish sky,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
Italian Eurofighters, as well one of Poland’s Turkish-made TB2 drones, joined Poland’s fleet of Su-22s and MiG-29s on doing road landings during a recent exercise.
“It’s clear to all of us … Poland is on the front line, stepping up to defend its homeland and our NATO alliance,” said Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden.
“Let’s say enemy strike plans are based around them going in and taking out a whole air wing at an airfield within a morning. Well that is not going to happen if they [friendly aircraft] are dispersed around the country and moving from A to B to C to D the whole time,” said Gary Waterfall, a former UK Royal Air Force air vice-marshal.
Analysts predict that a new government will keep deals under contract going, but programs that aren’t fully signed may see cuts or pivots towards European-made products.
Poland announced deals potentially worth over $15 billion on Monday, including plans to purchase Raytheon-made Lower-Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensors.
