USA redirects Patriots to Ukraine, Poland faces missile delays

The USA announced that hundreds of missiles for the Patriot and NASAMS air defense systems, which were supposed to go to other countries, will be sent to Ukraine. This means a delay in fulfilling Polish orders. "We need to support Ukraine. We need to provide weapons for the fight where they are needed. We can't do it on 'I have it, but I'm keeping it' basis," comments Gen. Roman Polko.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby announced Thursday that hundreds of missiles intended for Patriot and NASAMS air defense systems, which were initially supposed to go to various countries worldwide, will now be redirected to Ukraine. He explained that "this move is necessary" to support Ukraine in the face of Russia's growing threat, which is intensifying missile attacks.

Gen. Roman Polko views the United States' move positively. He notes that "the primary concern should be that the EU, which has big ambitions in the area of security, does not produce these effectors in quantities sufficient to meet the needs of fighting Ukraine."

Despite many announcements and various projects, we are not able to produce artillery ammunition. There were also many complaints when we bought American or Korean weapons instead of European ones. Even in this situation, it is clear how much the issue of armaments has been neglected," says Gen. Roman Polko in an interview with Wirtualna Polska.

A White House representative declined to name the countries affected by the changes but noted that they would not impact Taiwan and Israel. When asked whether NATO's eastern flank countries, such as Poland, would have to wait longer for their missiles, Kirby only said that he "will let the two countries speak for themselves." However, he added that these countries accepted the US decision with understanding, and many of them "fully supported it."

"I am only happy with this decision, which aims to support Ukraine. We need to provide weapons for the fight where they are needed. We can't do this on a 'I have it, but I'm keeping it in reserve' basis while soldiers and civilians are dying nearby. And we don't give them weapons because 'it's supposed to reach us,'" says Gen. Polko.

"For Russian forces to reach us, they must first capture Kharkiv, Kyiv, and then Lviv on the way. We will certainly manage with what we have. If needed, NATO also isn't so poor that it wouldn't be able to allocate forces and systems currently present in Europe to the eastern flank, which aren't needed," the military officer emphasizes.

The White House official did not rule out that similar "reprioritization" could also affect the Patriot systems, along with launchers, radars, and fire control systems. Kirby added that the USA is continually discussing transferring Patriot batteries to Ukraine by other countries. On Thursday, Romania announced the delivery of its system.

Among the countries that have placed orders for Patriot missiles is Poland, which also wants to buy AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, used both as air-to-air missiles launched from fighters and as ammunition for the NASAMS ground system.

According to the contract, Poland was supposed to receive 8 batteries by 2029 – 2 under the 2018 agreement and 6 under the 2023 agreement. At the end of February 2024, Poland signed a deal with the USA to acquire an Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) for the six Wisła batteries and 23 Narew sets.

This includes the delivery of CAMM-ER missiles for 23 Narew system batteries and does not change the planned delivery period from 2027 to 2035.

"Let's give this weaponry to Ukraine because it buys us time to build these systems. Every weapon handed over to Ukraine buys us more time and may even eliminate the threat," notes Gen. Polko.

"We need to transfer air defense systems to Ukraine so that Russia cannot murder civilians and destroy critical infrastructure with impunity. Not long ago, it seemed that Ukraine would supply us with electricity, but now their infrastructure is being 'murdered' by Russia," concludes the expert.