Is the Himars contract for Poland out of date? A year has passed since the order was placed, and the matter has stalled
Despite signing a contract to buy 486 Himars kits a year ago, negotiations on the details have not started. The number of kits will probably be smaller. However, the production of ammunition may take place in Poland.
Although Poland signed a framework agreement a year ago to purchase 486 Himars artillery sets, negotiations on the details of the transaction have not yet begun. It can be stated with a great degree of certainty that the order for this number of sets will not be carried out – warns “Rzeczpospolita”.
Himars systems, a powerful long-range artillery tool, are capable of hitting ground targets up to 300 km away with the right missiles. Ukraine, which has received over 40 systems from the United States, has seen their effectiveness on the front. This equipment has proven crucial in recent operations, such as in Kursk Oblast, where it has hampered the response of Russian forces.
In Poland, we also already have a certain number of such weapons – currently 20 Himars sets. However, our arsenal has also been enriched with Korean equivalents of these systems, i.e. K239 launchers. We have signed contracts for the delivery of 290 such units, and deliveries are already underway. The cost of this undertaking exceeds PLN 20 billion. Korean sets exceed the American versions in terms of the number of missiles – instead of six missiles, they can carry as many as twelve with a range of about 80 km.
The future of Himars purchase negotiations
A year has passed since the signing of the so-called framework agreement for an additional 486 Himars sets, which were to be delivered as part of the HOMAR-A system for 27 Polish rocket artillery divisions. However, negotiations on key details of the purchase, such as the final number of sets, the delivery schedule or the price, have not yet started.
The Armament Agency responsible for these transactions informs that preparations are underway to start negotiations with the American company Lockheed Martin, as well as activities related to acquiring equipment under the Foreign Military Sales program. However, no specific talks have taken place so far.
The main reason for the delays in the negotiations is finances. According to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the purchase of 486 Himars sets may cost a maximum of 10 billion dollars (about 40 billion PLN). Although this amount usually turns out to be lower, it is still a huge burden on the Polish budget, especially in the context of other commitments, such as the purchase of 96 AH-64 Apache helicopters, which also cost 40 billion PLN.
Moreover, the number of 486 sets seems excessive, considering that Poland has already contracted deliveries of Korean K239 launchers. As a result, once negotiations begin, we will probably seek to purchase only 126 Himars systems. The initially planned delivery schedule, which assumed the start of deliveries in 2025, is also no longer relevant.
Ammunition production in Poland
Both the Homar-A (Himars) and Homar-K (K239) programs involve the participation of the Polish arms industry. All vehicles are to be based on chassis manufactured by Jelcz and use the Polish Topaz combat management system, developed by the WB Group.
The most important element in this undertaking, however, is the production of ammunition. These systems can use missiles with a range of up to 80 km, as well as more advanced ammunition capable of striking at a distance of 300 km. Plans assume that the production of shorter-range ammunition will be carried out in Poland. Captain Paweł Kłosowski from the Armaments Agency confirmed that the production of ammunition for Himars systems is to be located in the country, and the Mesko plant, belonging to the Polish Armaments Group, will be responsible for the implementation of this task.
