Poland knows exactly what it takes to start making Patriot air defense systems outside the United States. Having invested $4.75 billion to produce two reinforced fire units (two radars in each) at the first phase of the Wisla defense program and planning to spend another $15 billion on six more batteries at the second, the national industry has finally reached a significant milestone.
The first batch of launch tubes for MSE missiles has been manufactured at the Polish plant Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze No. 1 (WZL 1) in Lodz, according to Lockheed Martin's announcement on social media.
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For context, Poland's Patriot purchase is accompanied by so-called compensation agreements, where the U.S. agrees to partially delegate the production of the air defense systems to local enterprises — although it's not a full localization, as its scope is basically limited to making individual components or final assembly of launchers, for example, mainly from parts supplied from American manufacturers.
Just in case, speaking of the launch tubes, we are not talking about the missile or its component; it's not even about the transport-launch container in whole but only its main part made of composite material.
Still, in order to produce it, WZL 1 had to undergo strict inspections by Lockheed Martin in 2023, proving its compliance with all standards and quality levels in production operations and processes. It was only after that, it was greenlighted for production of these launch tubes to finally deliver the very first batch in April 2025.
Other projects that Lockheed Martin, the producer of MSE effectors for Patriot, is implementing in Poland under the Wisla program include, for example, manufacturing the Junction-Box (J-Box) connected to the aft part of the launch canisters and the Enhanced Launcher Electronics System (ELES) are handled by local Wojskowe Zakłady Elektroniczne military electronics company.
Also, Wojskowe Zakłady Uzbrojenia enterprise makes the Heater Controller Unit (HCU), a device responsible for supplying power to special thermal strips that are necessary to keep the solid-propellant engines at working temperature when it's cold outside.
Important to note, these projects represent only the cooperation between Polish industry and Lockheed Martin individually. The final manufacturer of Patriot, Raytheon (part of RTX), has its own offset programs involving technology transfer and local production. But, similarly, at the initial stages they only offer partial localization of individual components of launchers and support vehicles or their assembly.
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