Poland’s government has concluded negotiations for the purchase of 40 Lockheed Martin AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles to equip its F-16 fighters.
Warsaw hopes to finalise the purchase by mid-December, with the munition entering operational service with its air force in 2017.
To enable the service to field the missiles, its F-16s are receiving a software upgrade to M6.5 standard in a process that will last 12-18 months, the nation’s defence ministry says.
The initial batch of aircraft will receive the modification in the USA, with the remainder upgraded locally.
Czeslaw Mroczek, deputy minister of national defence, says it will pay for the missiles in three instalments in the period to 2016, spending a total of $250 million.
The US Congress approved the sale in early October. Poland is also contemplating an additional purchase of the long-range JASSM-ER.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
