PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot system are among the most in-demand air-defense munitions in the world. Poland has been chosen as the location for a European center to service missiles for the sought-after US Patriot air-defense system, an official has announced. Polish Deputy Defense Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka described the decision as “historic” in an X post on Tuesday, adding that the hub will be the only one outside the United States. She later told reporters that the facility would cost around 1 billion zloty (€227 million) and that it would take a dozen or so months to make the center operational. Poland beat bids from NATO allies Germany, the Netherlands and Norway to host the facility. “This success was not a given,” Sobkowiak-Czarnecka posted. “It is the result of many months of negotiations and the hard work of the entire team." Patriot missiles have proven their worth in Ukraine, where they are a crucial element of the country's air defenses due to their ability to destroy incoming Russian ballistic missiles. However, the US-made weapons are in short supply. An agreement to explore the establishment of a European maintenance hub was signed in July by the United States, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden alongside PAC-3 missile manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The missiles are currently sent to the United States for servicing, prompting the US to seek a location for a European maintenance facility that would reduce turnaround times. Warsaw also hopes that hosting a European service hub will pave the way for Poland to become a manufacturer of Patriot missiles in the future. High demand Poland has long sought to host a hub to service PAC-3 MSE missiles—the latest, most advanced interceptors used by the Patriot system and among the world's most sought-after air-defense munitions. An electronics factory near Warsaw has been tipped as a likely location for the center after Sobkowiak-Czarnecka toured the facility with a senior US official in September. US Under Secretary of State Thomas DiNanno visited the WZE plant in Zielonka, a town around 15 km northeast of the capital, “to see firsthand the importance of US-Polish defense industrial cooperation on critical sub-components of the Patriot and PAC-3 enterprise,” the US embassy in Warsaw said in an X post at the time. A 2019 agreement with Lockheed Martin covered the production and servicing of critical PAC-3 MSE components at the plant. Discussions have been held with Kyiv about Poland and Ukraine partnering in a joint initiative to produce PAC missiles. However, initial suggestions by US President Donald Trump that Ukraine could be granted a production license now appear less certain amid strained diplomatic relations between Washington and Kyiv.
