At MSPO held in Poland between 5-8 September 2023, the Polish Government approved major contracts for air-defense programs with contacts of combined value of more than USD15.5 billion.
Contracts for Phase 2 of the Wisła program were signed, which will see the acquisition of an undisclosed number of PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles.
In an interview with Brenda Davidson, the Vice-President of the PAC-3 Program at Lockheed Martin, she said “PAC-3 is a defensive weapon, with hit to kill technology that protects this country against any incoming potential target. So, we’re here in Poland. We’ve been here under a contract since 2018, and we’re not only delivering defensive items that are helping provide security for Poland. We’re also providing opportunities within the industry here.”
Within the scope of the contract signed the Polish industry will be responsible of the production of specific elements of the PAC 3 MSE missile. “So, for example, in this particular missile at the beginning, you can see that we have attitude control motor. So, there’s pieces of that component that’s being built right here in industry. We also have suppliers we’re working with to have produce ability at some of our ground equipment. So, we’re very excited about the partnership that we have developed here within Poland, to support integrated air and missile defense as well as opportunity to help with the base, the economic base here in the country,” Davidson commented.
Davidson further illustrated that the PAC-3 MSE isn’t only used by Poland, but also by 14 different countries across the world who are partners within the PAC-3 program.
Stressing on the capabilities of the PAC-3 MSE, she added “This is the most superior hit to kill technology. So, you you can think about hitting a bullet with a bullet on this particular one. So, if there’s an incoming target, it’s one of the ones that’s a direct body to body contact. And so, we’ve had great success here with all of our products. So, this particular missile is the most sophisticated product that’s available.”