Antonina Swist, a journalist for the Polish newspaper Trybuna, cited editors of Raport WTO, a journal, as saying that "buying two Patriot batteries, which are something like Mercedes cars for the Polish army, will not be able to improve the situation of the Polish army or boost security."
"The experts claimed that 'with such missiles as Russia's Iskanders, which can fly from any side, two Patriot batteries cannot change much'," Swist wrote in a commentary for Sputnik Poland.
She noted that "everything is not that rosy" when it comes to the Washington-Warsaw deal on Patriot supplies.
READ MORE: VIDEO Shows Alleged US Patriot Missile Mistakenly Falling on Residential Area
Swist pointed out that "there is a trap in the Washington-Warsaw deal" which stipulates that the Patriot systems will be deployed to Poland in 2022 rather than 2019 as was earlier expected.
Another problem pertains to the Patriots' Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) which Swist recalled will be installed on the interceptors by 2020 when the US is due to vote in the presidential elections.
It means that the supplies of Patriots equipped with the most advanced IBCS system will come under a possible new US President who may review the deal, according to her.
READ MORE: What is Behind Poland's Push to Buy Costly US Patriot Missiles?
Adding fuel to the fire is former Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak, who wrote on his Twitter page that Poland is buying two Patriot batteries for 5.5 billion dollars, while Romania spent 3.9 million dollars to purchase 3.5 Patriot batteries.
Tylko dlaczego Rumunia ma kupić 3,5 baterii Patriotów za 3,9 mld dolarów, a Polska ma kupić 2 baterie za 5,5 mld USD? Zapłacimy 2,5 raza drożej! I wg miesięcznika "Wojsko i Technika" Rumunia kupi szybciej i korzystniej. PiS zmarnował 2 lata, a teraz drogo kupuje przychylność USA? https://t.co/qwwr4EIj2D
— Tomasz Siemoniak (@TomaszSiemoniak) 22 марта 2018 г.
The first delivery of the Patriot systems to Poland will include 16 launchers, four radar stations and 208 missiles.
Patriot is a long-range, all-altitude, air defense system capable of countering tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft. The US supplies Patriots to an array of its allies, including Germany, Israel, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The views and opinions expressed by Antonina Swist are those of the journalist and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
