Poland yesterday said it has concluded the technical dialogue for its medium-range missile defense system called WISLA and invited Raytheon‘s [RTN] bid of Patriot and the EUROSAM Consortium‘s offering of SAMP/T to take part in the formal procurement process–eliminating the MEADS International industry team proposing the MEADS system. Also eliminated was a reported offering from Israel.
Photo: Raytheon
“We are very pleased to be selected as a final contender for Poland’s WISLA program,” said Dan Crowley, president, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in a statement. “We are moving ahead to provide Poland with the most advanced air and missile defense system in use today by 12 countries around the world and look forward to partnering with Polish industry to build the next generation Patriot system.”
The EUROSAM consortium consists of Thales and MBDA-France.
Photo: French Government
The two–stage technical dialogue was part of the analytical and conceptual phase of the WISLA program. It set detailed tactical and technical requirements for the new medium-range air and missile defense system.
The MEADS system, developed by the United States, Germany and Italy, did not fit the final criteria as described on the Polish government website: to be operational and a part of NATO nation’s armaments. MEADS is neither operational nor in any NATO country inventory. The other principal criteria was to ensure the significant involvement of Polish industry in manufacturing, servicing and continued modernization of the system.
In a statement, MEADS International industry team of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and MBDA in France and Germany said it was disappointed. However, “we know that MEADS offers the best capabilities for countries looking for modern, mobile, 360-degree, open architecture solutions that can be grown in-country through partnership. The announcement reflects new criteria for the Wisla selection, and should they change again, we stand ready with the most advanced air and missile defense system available today.”
The MEADS team said it continues to work with Germany and Italy to develop their future air and missile defense systems. “We also are focused on successful completion of key architecture and radar demonstrations under the ongoing Design and Development contract.”
Raytheon said Patriot is continually modernized to meet evolving threats to deliver state of the art capability with each new fielding and upgrade.
Currently, Raytheon said, Patriot is the only combat-proven air and missile defense system, protecting the U.S. and allied forces around the world. Its global community, including five NATO nations and future Patriot partners, is offering Poland benefits through system enhancement, training, maintenance, testing, logistics and shared costs.
Raytheon also said it will partner with Poland on the future technology development roadmap of Patriot and has identified many co-development opportunities for Polish industry to participate spanning integration, command and control, radar enhancements and missile technologies.