France to provide 2 satellites, receiving station to Poland
FILE - Defense Minister of Poland Mariusz Blaszczak answers questions to media after signing an air policing treaty at an airshow in Malacky, Slovakia, Aug. 27, 2022. Blaszczak on Tuesday, Dec. 6 says his country will accept a Patriot missile defense system which Germany offered to Poland last month. The German offer was made after an errant missile fell in Poland near the border with Ukraine, killing two Polish men. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, file)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Petr David Josek]
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — France will provide Poland with two observation satellites and a receiving station under a deal sealed Tuesday in Warsaw which Poland says will help its armed forces recognize threats early.
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, after meeting with his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu, announced that they approved an agreement between Airbus and the Polish Armament Agency on equipping the Polish army with two reconnaissance satellites.
Błaszczak said the agreement represented “a good opportunity to strengthen our capacity for the early detection of threats.”
The Polish Armament Agency put the total value of the deal at 575 million euros ($612 million) and said the launch of the satellites into space would be completed by 2027.
The Polish Defense Ministry said that thanks to the satellites, its military will be able to obtain reconnaissance data with an accuracy of 30 centimeters (nearly a foot).
Błaszczak called it an early-warning system against both military and civilian threats such as natural disasters.
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