Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visited the factory of U.S. aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin in the U.S. state of Georgia on Wednesday, where he revealed the F-35 fighter jets ordered by Poland will be delivered next year.
The Lockheed Martin plant in Marietta, Georgia, is one of the most important facilities with regard to the production chain of the F-35 fighter jets. Morawiecki visited the plant in order to ensure that the delivery of these planes to Poland is expedited.
According to the Polish prime minister, the first F-35s will be transferred to Poland next year, and the training of the pilots in the United States is being brought forward. Morawiecki confirmed that the preparation of bases for the F-35s in Poland was already underway.
Poland is also in talks about acquiring the JASSM-XR missiles, with Morawiecki stating he wants Poland to be one of the first foreign countries to possess the weapons. He also revealed that Poland may become one of the servicing centers for the F-35s.
The Polish prime minister said that continued U.S. production in Poland is as important in terms of guaranteeing the country’s security as the purchase of the equipment.
On Wednesday, Morawiecki also visited the ANAD Anniston Army Depot facilities in Alabama. He confirmed that, by June at the latest, 14 Abrams tanks will be delivered to Poland to replace the old, post-Soviet equipment that has already been sent from Poland to Ukraine.
The initial delivery will be a “prelude” to the 250 state-of-the-art Abrams tanks and 116 modernized tanks Poland has ordered from the United States.
Morawiecki also talked with U.S. military officials and the management of the ANAD Anniston Army Depot about the possibility of “establishing facilities in Poland that would maintain and repair Abrams tanks in Europe.”
“We are also striving for the production of depleted uranium core ammunition for Abrams tanks to be located in Poland, as well as the production of state-of-the-art ammunition cores,” he added.
