Poland Buying American Patriot Missile System, Trump Set to Announce

Source: Weekly Standard
Published: Jul 5, 2017
Author: Michael Warren
Post Date: 2017-07-06 13:16:14 by Tooconservative
Views: 3855


How many Polacks does it take to shoot down a Russky ballistic missile?

The Trump administration will announce Thursday an agreement with the government of Poland to sell the Eastern European ally American-manufactured surface-to-air missile systems. The agreement comes seven years after the Obama administration removed a group of missile launchers from near the Russian border with Poland after Moscow objected to their placement.

According to Trump administration officials, the president and his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, will announce the countries have signed a memorandum of understanding that will move forward with Poland’s acquisition of an unknown number of Patriot missile systems. The United States has sold the Patriot system to other American allies in the past, including Germany and Taiwan.

Polish state media first reported the agreement Wednesday.

On Thursday, Trump will hold a bilateral meeting with President Duda in Warsaw, where the American president will also deliver a speech touting Poland’s national identity and history of standing up for itself, say administration sources.

Trump will travel later on Thursday to Hamburg, the site of this weekend’s G20 economic summit, where on Friday he plans to hold a bilateral meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin. It will be the first meeting between these two leaders, and it’s likely among the issues Trump and Putin will discuss will be this missile-system deployment.

Putin’s anger with both the missile launchers in Poland and a planned American missile-defense radar system in neighboring Czech Republic prompted the Obama administration to pull back from these commitments, originally made during the George W. Bush administration.

. . . more on the EPA and the diplomatic isolation of Qatar . . .

Poster Comment:

So which president is the Russian collaborator? The one who promised the Russian PM in 2011 to "be more flexible after the election" and cancelled the Czech-Polish missile defense system and signed a new START treaty with extremely favorable terms to Russia? Or the one who is selling Patriot missiles to Poland against the hostility and opposition of the Kremlin?

0bama is clearly the Russian collaborator, not Trump.

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#1: misterwhite    To: Tooconservative (#0)

Or the one who is selling Patriot missiles to Poland against the hostility and opposition of the Kremlin?

I'm betting the MSM won't say anything about this. Unless they find some group in Poland that objects to it.

misterwhite posted on 2017-07-06 13:37:08   Reply   Private Reply

#2: Pinguinite    To: Tooconservative (#0)

Is the Patriot missile system any good? I don't think it can hold a candle to the Russian S-300 or S-400, last I heard.

It would be nice if the USA could export something other than weapons.

Pinguinite posted on 2017-07-06 15:34:53   Reply   Private Reply

#3: Tooconservative    To: Pinguinite (#2)

Patriot systems are missile defense, in this case, defense against smaller conventional Russky ballistic missiles of the type that Poland would fear. The S-300 and S-400 are anti-aircraft and anti-cruise missile weapons and not of any use against a ballistic missile. Hence my caption in the article, "How many Polacks does it take to shoot down a Russky ballistic missile?"

It's been many years since I heard a real Polack joke so I had to make up my own.

It would be nice if the USA could export something other than weapons.

We've already exported a lot of them, made good sales. The Saudis and the emirates just love them.

Tooconservative posted on 2017-07-06 17:11:12   Reply   Private Reply

#4: Pinguinite    To: Tooconservative (#3)

The S-300 and S-400 are anti-aircraft and anti-cruise missile weapons and not of any use against a ballistic missile.

I think I read somewhere that at least the S-400 was supposed to be effective against just about anything that leaves the ground, including ballistic missiles.

Yup. Wikipedia:

Completion of the project was announced in February 2004, and in April a ballistic missile was successfully intercepted in a test of the upgraded 48N6DM missile

The effective range vs a ballistic may be limited such that it would need to be near the ballistic missile target area, but... supposedly, the Ruskies have done it.

Pinguinite posted on 2017-07-06 17:35:39   Reply   Private Reply

#5: Tooconservative    To: Pinguinite (#4)

The ABM capabilities of the S-400 system are near the maximum allowed under the (now void) Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

Apparently, you're right. "The ABM capabilities of the S-400 system are near the maximum allowed under the (now void) Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty." Wiki went to mention that the S-500 will have a true anti-ICBM role.

At present, the Patriot (and the S-400 apparently) are considered to be defense against theater ballistic missiles, up to 600 miles or so. An ICBM is a more difficult target even before you start to account for MIRV warheads.

I think the Patriot is supposed to be better than the S-400 in a real battlefield situation. Keep in mind, we do know a lot more about the Patriot missiles from real-world use against a variety of enemy missiles. For the S-400 to knock down a (friendly) ballistic missile in testing is not the same thing.

Tooconservative posted on 2017-07-06 17:43:56   Reply   Private Reply