The United States welcomes Poland’s decision to move forward with its acquisition of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).
Signing a Letter of Offer and Acceptance on February 13 was the culmination of successful negotiations between our two countries. This decision greatly increases the potential for cooperation between U.S. and Polish land forces. Poland’s acquisition of the HIMARS platform is further evidence of Poland’s commitment to its own and NATO’s defense, and to NATO burden sharing and spending at least 2 percent of GDP on defense.
The delivery of Lockheed Martin’s HIMARS is yet another clear step in increasing U.S.-Polish military cooperation, a key objective for our bilateral relationship. Poland is pursuing a “total package approach,” which includes robust training and maintenance capabilities, that the Polish government has valued at more than $400 million. Exporting the most formidable and cutting edge US technology helps to strengthen Poland’s ongoing defense modernization program—to which Poland devotes more than 25% of its defense budget. We look forward to working with Poland as it continues to develop its long-range precision fire capabilities.