Poland asks for US military transport aircraft and anti-tank missiles

Warsaw is boosting military cooperation with Washington after it has requested additional weapons and vehicles as part of its plan to acquire 60 launchers and around 185 missiles.

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced that his country has filed two letters of request to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency to procure FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile systems and five C-130H Hercules transport aircraft for its Territorial Defense Forces, according to DefenseNews.

The request comes as Washington makes headway in sending its military to Poland. Just last week, Blaszczak announced that the two countries had agreed on six locations within Poland for the future stationing of 1,000 new non-permanent US troops. Warsaw has offered to extend at least $2 billion for the construction of a new US base in Poland as part of efforts dubbed “Fort Trump”.

Warsaw also signed a joint declaration with Washington this week for the supply of 5G technology – a move likely aimed against the Chinese firm, Huawei, which the Trump administration describes as a potential security threat in league with Beijing. Meanwhile, other European allies such as Germany argue that there is no evidence of suspicious behavior from Huawei, and the company is ready to share its source code in order to alleviate any existing concerns.

Poland has been wooing the US for some time as part of an ongoing effort to counter a perceived “Russian threat.” Russia, for its part, regards Poland’s arms build-up as a threat to stability in Europe.

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