Poland to Procure Javelin ATGMs Soon. Pustelnik Programme in Progress

Błaszczak announced the fact that negotiation with regards to the Javelin missiles has been completed via his ‘Twitter account. The delivery concerns 60 launchers and 180 missiles. The agreement is expected to be signed “soon”. The new missiles would most probably be received by the newly-formed anti-tank elements of three Territorial Defence brigades stationed in the eastern part of Poland. The Ministry decided to procure the missiles without a transfer of technology or offset. The US Government is going to act as a contracting party, as it usually happens in case of the FMS procurements.

We have finalized negotiation concerning the acquisition of 60 Javelin launchers and 180 Javelin anti-tank missiles. The agreement is to be signed soon. This is not the end of the improvement of these capabilities. More Javelins are going to be acquired, and we are also working on acquiring light ATGMs, within the framework of the Pustelnik programme.

The US State Department has authorized the sale of the first batch of Javelins to Poland (79 launchers, 180 missiles), along with extras, with a price tag of up to 100 million dollars. This happened in early March. The final price has not been disclosed. However, it may be lower, as the quantity of launchers has been limited. 

Javelin is a US-made ATGM manufactured by Javelin Joint Venture (a joint undertaking of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon). The missile utilizes a thermal-imaging seeker and offers a “fire-and-forget” capability. It can engage targets through “top attack” and “direct attack” at distances ranging from 2.5 to 4 kilometers, depending on the variant.  

Błaszczak also announced that Poland would be acquiring more Javelin missiles in the future. He added that the MoD is working on the “Pustelnik” light ATGM programme as well. The Armament Inspectorate of the Polish MoD is currently working on the analytical/conceptual phase pertaining to the aforesaid task. The acquisition of the Javelin missiles for the Territorial Defence units is separate from the Pustelnik programme.

Polish Mesko company, working with the Telesystem-Mesko entity, is developing the Pirat ATGM, for the Pustelnik programme. Pirat is a laser-guided missile utilizing a domestically-developed guidance system that is unified with the PGMs developed by Mesko for the Krab howitzers and Rak mortar systems. The missile is to offer “top attack” and “direct attack” capabilities.