Armed Forces
JASSM Contract to be Signed in December. F-16 will undergo modernisation in Poland
Agreements regarding procurement of the JASSM missiles and the NSM missile system for the 2nd Coastal Missile Squadron will be signed in December this year. Price of the American missiles and F-16 modernisation bundle is going to be at least two times lower than 500 million dollars indicated in the FMS – as MoD Secretary of State, Czesław Mroczek, stated during the conference which dealt with the Armed Forces modernisation programme.
During the conference, which was related to the programme of modernisation of the Polish Armed Forces within the period between 2013 and 2022, the representatives of the Polish MoD have provided detailed information regarding the contracts which are to be signed by the end of 2014. Procurement of 40 JASSM missiles for the Polish F-16 fighters is the most interesting issue within that context.
When it comes to detailed timeline, we are to receive unilaterally signed LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from the Americans on 30th November. (…) We assume that on 15th December we will be ready to sign the LOA on the Polish side. The acceptance is related to procurement of the JASSM missiles, along with software upgrade for the F-16 fighters. The first payment for the missiles will take place on 22nd December, with subsequent payments in 2015 and 2017. When it comes to the delivery schedule – firstly we will focus on modernisation of the F-16 fighters up to the M6.5 standard. (…) JASSM missiles will be manufactured at the same time – so that the first ones reach Poland in March 2017.
As Czesław Mroczek stated, conditions of the contract result from very intensive negotiation process. When it comes to tailoring the aircraft to be capable of using JASSM, the first two F-16’s will undergo works in the US, while the rest of the aircraft will be modernised in Poland. No additional details were provided within that scope.
The missiles will be supplied quite quickly, however tailoring the F-16 jets to use them will not be so easy – we will have to be listed in a queue. (...) The price will be good. (…) We aim at purchasing the missiles and modernisation bundle for two times less than it was stated in the US press release. Simply said – we are not going to pay more than the Finns did.