HIMARS Academy and 1st Missile Brigade to be opened in Poland
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said that after 18 years of break, the country will create the first rocket and artillery brigade and open the HIMARS Academy
This was reported by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
The newly created rocket and artillery brigade will be deployed in two cities – Torun and Ozhysh. It will be part of the 16th Mechanized Division, which is responsible for security in the northeastern part of Poland.
“To train more artillerymen, we have established the HIMARS Academy, modeled after the Abrams Academy, also in cooperation with the US Army’s V Corps,” the Defense Minister said.
According to him, thanks to the academy, Poland will be able to cooperate with allies from the Baltic states, which have also purchased these systems.
Blaszczak recalled that in 2005, Poland disbanded the last division equipped with the Soviet Tochka U tactical missile system, which can reach a distance of 70 km. Currently, the country has HIMARS systems with a range of up to 300 km.
The defense minister emphasized that the task of the Polish authorities is to equip the army with weapons that will be effective in deterring the aggressor and “make Russia not dare to invade Poland.”
- In February, the United States approved the sale of HIMARS missile systems to Poland. Before that, Poland submitted a request to the United States to purchase 18 M142 launchers
- HIMARS, 468 sets of missiles for them, and 45 army tactical missile systems M57 ATACMS.
- On May 25, two HIMARS missile systems from the United States and elements of the PATRIOT system arrived in Poland.
