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On 5 July, the foreign and defence secretaries of the UK and Poland signed the 2030 Strategic Partnership following talks at Lancaster House.
The agreement sets out joint priorities on a swathe of diplomatic, defence and other issues and builds on a 2017 UK-Poland Treaty on Defence and Security Cooperation.
Key to the partnership is building next-generation capabilities for both countries’ armed forces.
UK and Polish defence cooperation has intensified recently with the successful export of the Type 31 frigate design for Poland’s Miecznik programme and collaboration on air defence capabilities.
In April, the UK and Poland inked a £1.9 billion ($2.49 billion) export agreement to equip 22 Polish air defence batteries with CAMM and launchers under the Pilica+ programme.
Poland will also equip its Miecznik frigates with CAMM, in line with the UK’s plans to fit its Type 31 frigates with the missile.
MBDA and Polish industry have already successfully cooperated on the delivery of the Mala Narew system into Polish service.
In a section of the 2030 Strategic Partnership document titled ‘Capability Cooperation’, plans for UK-Polish collaboration on a future missile are detailed.
The document reads: ‘Progress cooperation in support of our respective industries in the common development of a future common missile based on the Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) family.’
Responding to the UK-Poland agreement, an MBDA spokesperson told Shephard: ‘MBDA welcomes the UK-Poland 2030 Strategic Partnership including government cooperation to assess the potential for joint development of a future common missile based on the CAMM family.
‘Both the UK and Poland rely on CAMM to provide best-in-class air defence capabilities for land and maritime protection.
‘MBDA and Polish industry have already successfully cooperated to deliver the Mala Narew system into Polish service, a cooperation that will deepen further through both the contracted Pilica+ and upcoming Miecznik and Narew programmes, all utilising the CAMM family for air defence.’
MBDA is currently contracted with Polish industry to mature a CAMM family long-range interceptor for Miecznik and ground-based air defence.
While details are scant on the scope of the joint missile work, a Miecznik slide shown at a Polish defence show detailed a so-called ‘CAMM-MR’ missile with a range of 100km-plus.
This would make it by far the longest-range variant of the CAMM missile, othering greater range than the CAMM Extended-Range (ER) weapon.
The spokesperson added: ‘We look forward to supporting the government’s joint assessment of a future common missile and the potential to harmonise capabilities and technologies between our nations.’
Commenting on the agreement, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: ‘As historic defence partners and NATO Allies, the UK stands with Poland to defend NATO’s Eastern Flank and support Ukraine against Russian aggression.
‘The 2030 Strategic Partnership strengthens our commitment to develop closer military deployments and exercises and deliver on immediate and long-term capability projects.’
The UK has deployed CAMM to Poland as part of the ongoing operation of the Sky Sabre system since last year.
Sky Sabre comprised the missile – known by the British Army as Land Ceptor, Saab Giraffe radars, and a Rafael C2 system. The solution is marketed internationally by MBDA as MEADS.
The Polish CAMM-based air defence solutions use indigenous radars and a unique C2 solution, showcasing the CAMM solution’s flexibility.
Polish-UK missile cooperation is not just restricted to air defence, with Warsaw also having purchased the Brimstone missile for its Ottokar-Brzoza tank destroyer programme.
