Polish soldiers demonstrate the W125 launcher SC Anti-missile system, Jan. 14, at Skwierzyna, Poland.

Polish soldiers demonstrate the W125 launcher SC Anti-missile system, Jan. 14, at Skwierzyna, Poland. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Paige Behringer

Eyeing Russia, Poland Wants More NATO Troops

But does it want anti-missile interceptors? How about the F-35?

With a nervous eye toward Russia, Poland’s president is asking NATO to keep more troops on its territory.

“It [the troops] may be of the rotational nature, but I would like to make sure that it is so intensive as to avoid such days on which there are no NATO forces in the territory of Poland,” President Andrzej Duda told reporters at the German Marshall Fund in Washington Wednesday.

Duda, who was elected president last year, was continuing the calls of the previous Polish government, which was unnerved by Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. has been sending military forces to Poland and other nations in the region for more frequent training as part of the European Reassurance Initiative, the Obama administration’s attempt to ease NATO’s elevated fears. This week, Pentagon officials announced plans to send more tanks and armored vehicles to Europe and rotate troops as part of the initiative. Poland will host some of the equipment.

Poland also has plans to buy missile defense interceptors, but Duda’s government is said to be rethinking that decision. Last April, the previous government chose Raytheon’s Patriot missile defense system. But now Polish officials are debating whether missile defenses would be worth buying at all, since they would likely be overwhelmed by a combination of Russian missiles and aircraft, said Jacek Bartosiak, an analyst at the Poland-based Jagiellonian Club think tank and senior fellow at Potomac Foundation in Virginia.

“These are issues which will be decided by the experts and I’m leaving those decisions to them,” Duda said. “The only thing I want to have is an efficient missile defense. As long as it is effective, I’m OK with it.”

For Poland, low-flying Russian missiles that never leave the Earth’s atmosphere are “very much a strategic concern,” said Tom Karako, a missile defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. American military brass have been increasingly concerned about these types of Russian cruise missiles.

The U.S. is also planning to install SM-3 missile interceptors in Poland by 2018, part of the Obama administration’s European missile defense shield. But the so-called “Phased Adaptive Approach,” is largely geared toward shooting down Iranian long-range ballistic missiles that leave the Earth’s atmosphere and then reenter near the target, Karako said.

“We and our NATO allies have a shared reason to move not just to ICBM-killers, but to more lower-tier defenses that frankly can be effective in deterring conventional Russian aggression,” Karako said.

That means NATO could look to shoot down lower-flying missiles with interceptors such as the Patriot, Raytheon’s SM-6, and Lockheed’s Medium Extended Air Defense System.

“If you want to deter Russia, you want to deter the multiplicity of missiles that they have,” Karako said.

Bartosiak said Poland needs more than its current 48 F-16 fighter jets. One way of bolstering its defense is by acquiring and upgrading retired American F-16s.

“If we had approximately 200 of those, we would have a real air force capability,” he said, noting that Poland could overhaul the planes domestically.

The Polish air force could also use more JASSMs, stealthy cruise missiles built by Lockheed, Bartosiak said.

And is the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter on Poland’s wish list?

“I wouldn’t want to use the word ‘wish’ in the context of the wish list,” Duda said when asked. “I would like to take a [full] view of what is able to guarantee security to us in our part of Europe to the highest possible extent.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.