Jay Clemens
Poland’s defense ministry is considering a purchase of more naval strike missiles from Norway-based Kongsberg Defence Systems for a planned coastal squadron along the Polish Baltic Sea, Defense News reported Friday.
Polish Deputy Defense Minister Bartosz Kownacki told local daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna that the basis for considering Kongsberg’s offering is the country’s “insufficient†reconnaissance system, Jaroslaw Adamowski reports.
“Such a squadron has a strike range of about [124 miles], but our radars have a range that is considerably shorter,” Kownacki was quoted as saying.
Kownacki told the publication that one solution the ministry considers is the use of drones and the integration of the NSM with the Wisla medium-range air-and-missile defense system, according to the report.
The minister said Poland plans to issue a contract for three submarines in late 2017 and jointly procure submarines with Norway, Defense News reports.
Raytheon announced its plan in July to work with Kongsberg on the manufacture of the NSM system at the company’s Louisville, Kentucky-based facility and test the missile at its facility in Tucson, Arizona.
