Europe just got a little safer.
Poland signed a $4.6 billion deal with the U.S. March 28 to buy a state-of-the-art anti-aircraft and anti-missile system that will bolster NATO’s security.
The Patriot missile-defense system “will strengthen the security and capabilities of the United States, Poland and NATO along the Alliance’s Eastern Flank,” the U.S. Department of State said.
President Andrzej Duda described the deal as “historic” for his country and its armed forces. “What is most important is that on many occasions, the system has stood the test in the countries where it is deployed,” Duda said in a statement. “The system has always proved effective.”
The deal “reflects Poland’s investment in sharing the burden of collective defense through its ongoing defense modernization program,” the State Department said. The commitments were made in conjunction with the meeting between Presidents Trump and Duda in Warsaw in July 2017.
The deal creates jobs in both the United States and Poland.
With this new system, Poland is “entering a completely new era of defence: truly this is the 21st century, if not the 22nd,” President Duda said.
