Poland’s
armaments inspectorate has invited Raytheon to participate in the formal
procurement process of the country’s medium-range air and missile defense
system, or the WISLA program, Raytheon
announced
July 1. The company, which plans to offer Poland its Patriot air and missile
defense system, will compete against a consortium of France’s Thales and
European group MBDA,
reported
Reuters. A MEADS consortium, led by
Lockheed Martin, lost out on the tender, as did the Israeli government, after
Poland sped up the process and announced it would only consider systems that
already are operational, following Russia’s recent aggression in Ukraine,
according to
Reuters. The
Lockheed-led bid was still in development and Israel was offering a system
known as
David’s
Sling, which is not yet operational. “We are very pleased to be selected as
a final contender for Poland’s WISLA program,” said Raytheon president of
integrated defense systems Dan Crowley. “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.”
