Source: Reuters
The Announcement
During a visit to the southern Polish city of Zamosc on Tuesday, Britain’s defence secretary said that the country will expand the deployment of an air defence system in Poland.
Ben Wallace said at a news conference, “I am glad to announce that we will extend the existing deployment of our medium air defence for another term to ensure that Poland is safe while continuing to provide logistical support to Ukraine.”
The Story Earlier
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace had stated during a trip to Warsaw on March 17 that a recently installed British air-defence system was being sent to Poland to improve the nation’s capabilities.
The action was a component of a larger NATO asset upgrading in Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe, which had seen soldiers and equipment sent there to ward off any Russian assault.
Following a meeting with his Polish counterpart, Mariusz Blaszczak, Wallace had declared: “The deployment of Sky Sabre medium-range, anti-air system to Poland with 100 people would help secure her airspace from any additional assault from Russia.”
The development of a Polish air defence system based on Sky Sabre was the subject of an announcement made by London and Warsaw in the latter part of last year.
Although the British had not stated by that time when they intended to deploy the system, it was anticipated that the deployment would last no more than six months.Due to the acceleration of a long-planned delivery to the British Army, the equipment was to be made available for use in Poland.
The Sky Sabre deployment was the second British effort to strengthen the air defences of Eastern European countries.
Source: Getty Images
The provision of StarStreak short-range air defence missiles to Ukraine, Poland’s eastern neighbour, was revealed by the British.
At the beginning of this year, the Sky Sabre system, designed by MBDA, officially replaced the Rapier missile as Britain’s medium-range anti-air weapon.The system includes the Saab-built Giraffe agile, multi-beam surveillance radar, the Sky Sabre missile, and Rafael command-and-control hardware.
The German military ministry had also disclosed that it would provide Patriot air defence capabilities to Slovakia, Poland’s southern neighbour. Berlin officials refused to disclose more information, citing security issues. Slovakia and Ukraine have a boundary that runs around 60 miles north to south.
The agreement followed Germany’s vow to send a company-sized Army unit to Slovakia for an “increased vigilance activity battlegroup.” By April, the unit was supposed to reach its full battlegroup size.
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