Poland’s armaments inspectorate has invited Raytheon to participate in the formal procurement process of the country’s medium-range air and missile defense system, or the WISLA program, Raytheon announced July 1. The company, which plans to offer Poland its Patriot air and missile defense system, will compete against a consortium of France’s Thales and European group MBDA, reported Reuters. A MEADS consortium, led by Lockheed Martin, lost out on the tender, as did the Israeli government, after Poland sped up the process and announced it would only consider systems that already are operational, following Russia’s recent aggression in Ukraine, according to Reuters. The Lockheed-led bid was still in development and Israel was offering a system known as David’s Sling, which is not yet operational. “We are very pleased to be selected as a final contender for Poland’s WISLA program,” said Raytheon president of integrated defense systems Dan Crowley. “We are moving ahead to provide Poland with the most advanced air and missile defense system in use today by 12 countries around the world and look forward to partnering with Polish industry to build the next generation Patriot system.”
President Donald Trump is interested in developing a twin-engined, upgraded version of the F-35 fighter, he said during a press event May 15 in Qatar marking the sale of Boeing airliners and GE Aerospace engines to Qatar Airways. He said he would name the improved aircraft the “F-55” and also…