Post by whitehorse on Nov 21, 2019 0:03:11 GMT
Northrop sets up shop in Warsaw
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A soldier stands guard near a Patriot launcher during exercise Panther Assurance 2015. (Sgt. 1st Class Randall Jackson/U.S. Army)
WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman opened its first office in Poland, in the heart of Warsaw, on Nov. 19 primarily to support the first foreign customer of its air and missile defense command-and-control system that has yet to be fielded by the U.S. Army.
“Poland will be the first allied nation to acquire the [Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System] IBCS and will field it nearly concurrently with the U.S. Army, meaning Poland will get the latest technology and innovative product,” U.S. Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new 12,000-square-foot office.
“The Polish government selected Northrop Grumman’s state-of-the-art [IBCS] to serve as the centerpiece of the country’s modernization strategy for air-and-missile defense capability and has the largest installed base of the Northrop Grumman MK44 Bushmaster Chain Gun worldwide,” according to a company statement.
“The office in Warsaw will enhance progress on the WISLA medium range air-and-missile defense program and other efforts with Poland’s government and industries, and will serve as the company’s Poland headquarters,” the statement added.
It’s been a long road for Poland’s Wisla acquisition, which has experienced hiccups from the very beginning. The government raced to acquire a missile defense system shortly after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. But it wouldn’t be until 2018 when Poland and the U.S. government solidified a deal for the procurement of the Raytheon-made Patriot system.
