Poland seeks Tomahawk missiles from US, others

WARSAW – The Associated Press

AP Photo

Poland is seeking to obtain Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States or another country, Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said on March 12.

The government considers Poland’s security challenged by the armed conflict in neighboring Ukraine, which also involves another neighbor, Russia.

The Defense Ministry is inviting men and women aged between 18 and 50 to go through military training and is intensifying efforts to modernize the armed forces, while major NATO and international military exercises are to be held in Poland in the summer.

Siemoniak said on Polish Radio 1 that he decided last year that he would like to have Tomahawk missiles on three submarines that Poland is planning to purchase by the year 2030.

“We are asking everyone who is able to deliver such weapons, also our American partners,” Siemoniak said without specifying how many missiles Poland would like to have.

Poland has a professional army of some 100,000 troops and 20,000 reservists. Spending on defense is to be raised next year to 2 percent of GDP, compared with 1.95 percent currently.

Siemoniak said that some 5,000 troops will take part in exercise of NATO’s new spearhead fast-reaction force that will test its deployment capabilities. U.S. troops will join soldiers from Poland, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway and the Czech Republic.