The process of integration of the Polish Patriot system (System Integration Checkout, or SICO) is underway in Toruń.
A demonstration of the SICO process took place with the participation of President Andrzej Duda and Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak. The process aims to combine elements manufactured in Poland with Patriot components ordered in the United States, among other things.
To pierwszy etap realizacji umacniania bezpieczeństwa do poziomu najnowocześniejszego bezpieczeństwa przeciwlotniczego i przeciwrakietowego w przestrzeni nie tylko europejskiej ale i w przestrzeni światowej — Prezydent @AndrzejDuda. pic.twitter.com/VwWD5CuiME
— Kancelaria Prezydenta (@prezydentpl) October 14, 2022
“This is the first stage of the implementation of security strengthening to the level of the most modern anti-aircraft and anti-missile security in the European space, but also in the world space,” – said President Andrzej Duda. He emphasised that F-35 fighters will also be part of Poland’s air defence.
As the Defence24 portal puts it, the SICO procedure is an element of the Vistula system implementation, as part of which Polish and American teams carry out an inventory of deliveries and carry out the final assembly of military equipment.
Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak underlined that the Vistula system is an element of the integrated air defence system. „The middle layer is Patriot, and the lower one is Narew, the lowest is Piorun, supplemented by Pilica missile sets,” he explained. He added that the system would reach operational capacity „in a few months„.
https://twitter.com/MON_GOV_PL/status/1580953823710879744
Under the Homeland Defence Act passed last winter, the Polish government decided to double the size of its armed forces and increase defence spending from 2.2% currently to at least 3% next year. Such military reinforcement would make Poland NATO’s third-biggest relative spender, behind Greece (3.8%) and the United States (3.5%).
Patriots were selected as the basis of Poland’s air defence system in April 2015. The first contract for the purchase was signed in 2018. The system’s operational readiness is scheduled for the end of 2023.
Image: Twitter (@mblaszczak)
Author: Sébastien Meuwissen
