There are hints that Poland could have transferred a certain number of MSE (Missile Segment Enhancement) to Ukraine for Patriot SAM systems, which are designed to intercept ballistic targets. Currently, Ukraine is experiencing a real shortage of such missiles, which is only intensifying after the United States launched Operation Epic Fury in Iran.
In particular, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov, during a meeting of the Ramstein Contact Group, which was dedicated to helping Ukraine, thanked the allies for their support with Patriot systems as well as the supply of missiles to them. Interestingly, among the countries that were thanked was Poland. This was noted by the Defence 24.
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The fact is that Poland did not send its Patriot SAM systems to Ukraine, nor did it previously publicly announce the transfer of the missile to them. Therefore, the publication suggests that Poland could have secretly transferred a certain number of PAC-3 MSE missiles to Ukraine as aid.
Recall that Poland currently has 2 Patriot batteries. The country ordered these systems in 2018 for $4.75 billion as part of the implementation of the first part of the Wisła program. These systems became fully operational only last year. Together with the two Patriot batteries, 208 PAC-3 MSE missiles were delivered under this contract, which now form the basis of the Patriot SAM system ammunition, which is in service with Poland.
It should be noted that 208 missiles is quite a small number, so if Poland decided to transfer a certain number to Ukraine, then, obviously, the number of missiles transferred could not have been large. But, given the shortage of CRI and MSE missiles in Ukraine, even a dozen missiles that could be received from Poland can help destroy up to a dozen ballistic missiles that the russian federation constantly launches to terrorize and kill Ukrainians.
The possibility of secret supplies of MSE missiles from Poland to Ukraine is only an assumption. It is worth considering that Poland will probably receive the next batch of such missiles only with the start of the arrival of 12 systems under another contract.
The second agreement for the supply of Patriot SAM systems was concluded by Poland in 2023 as part of the implementation of the second part of the Wisła program – then the value of the deal was $ 9.3 billion. The delivery of these systems should begin in 2027. These 12 systems should be supplied complete with new LTAMDS radars, which eliminate an important drawback of the old radars used in early versions of the Patriot system.
It is possible that Mykhailo Fedorov thanked Poland for some technical assistance with the Patriot systems, or for financing the purchase of missiles for these systems under the PURL (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List) initiative – this has not been officially reported yet.
It is worth recalling that Poland has already been able to partially localize the production of PAC-3 MSE missiles, in particular, last year the production of transport and launch containers for these missiles was launched.
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