Lockheed Martin Still Has A Chance In $5 Billion Polish Missile Defense Tender

Lockheed Martin still has a chance in $5 billion missile defense tender as Poland may review its decision to drop Lockheed’s MEADS system, Reuters quoted a senior source at the Polish Ministry of Defense as saying.

The Polish program is part of its $36 billion military modernizing plan between 2013 and 2022.

The review decision depends on whether Germany decides to implement MEADS or not. Berlin is still to decide between Raytheon’s Patriot system and MEADS.

"MEADS could still very well end up being on the table. We will consider allowing the MEADS system to take part in the tender, if Germany decides that it will be at the core of their missile defense," Reuters quoted an unnamed source as saying.

A German decision to commit to Lockheed Martin's system would help the consortium meet Poland's requirement that all proposed solutions have to be operational and in use by another NATO member state's armed forces.

"Poland wants its missile defense systems to be compatible with German ones, because Germany is our closest ally," the source said.

Last year, Poland excluded the Lockheed Martin-led consortium from the tender, short-listing two contenders: a consortium of European group MBDA and France's Thales SA, and U.S. firm Raytheon Co, as potential suppliers.

The decision is most likely be taken this summer as early as Feb 15, Reuters reported.