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Poland, a NATO country, intends to deploy the United States’ HIMARS rocket system at Russia’s doorstep. Photo/REUTERS
WARSAW – Poland, a NATO country, plans to deploy a number of advanced United States (US) HIMARS rocket systems on the “doorstep” Russia .
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said his country intends to deploy a number of such rocket systems on its territory which borders Russia.
Blaszczak said the HIMARS system battery was procured in 2019, and the announcement of its planned deployment came after the US Congress approved 500 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) charging modules for the defense of Ukraine.
“Until the end of 2023, the US HIMARS rocket artillery system will be used by the 16th mechanized division of the Polish army, which is deployed near the border with Russia’s Kaliningrad region,” Blaszczak said on Friday, noting the system’s mission success in Ukraine’s air defense, as quoted by Newsweek, Saturday (8/3/2023).
The day before, Blaszczak announced that the US State Department had approved the sale of 800 Hellfire missiles for use in support helicopters.
It also comes amid fears that Russia has the potential to escalate violence into NATO territories such as Poland, which recently became the first NATO country to provide Ukraine with warplanes to counter a Moscow invasion.
In February, former Russian President and Deputy Chair of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said the only way for Moscow to ensure lasting peace with Ukraine was to push back the borders of its allies as far as possible, even if it meant risking conflict with NATO members. like Poland.
“That is why it is so important to achieve all the goals of special military operations. To push back as far as possible the borders that threaten our country, even if they are Polish borders,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram at the time.
Russia, meanwhile, has begun increasing its own activities in Poland with the express intent of disrupting that country’s aid to Ukraine.
