The Polish defense minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, said on Wednesday that his country has signed an agreement with the U.S. to buy an airborne early warning system for $960 million.
"Poland will be the second country in the world to use this system," and the deal "is another act of cooperation between Poland and the USA," the minister said of the purchase.
The contract, funded by a loan from the U.S., will deliver four Tethered Aerostat Radar Systems, a platform that resembles moored balloons with attached tracking equipment.
Saudi Arabia purchased 10 of the devices, which have a surveillance range of 300 km, in 2021.
The reconnaissance apparatus is intended to monitor the country’s northeast, near the borders of Belarus and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
The announcement comes as Warsaw has increased its efforts to modernize its armed forces in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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