Poland is seeking new defence partnerships with the Philippines, a senior foreign ministry official said on Tuesday, after completing the delivery of Black Hawk helicopters to Manila last month.
– Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, who was in Manila for annual political consultations with the Philippines, said Poland is investing nearly $50 billion for its defence industry and could sell military hardware abroad, including to the Philippines.
- Bartoszewski said Poland could sell both reconnaissance and fighting drones, radar equipment, anti-aircraft missiles and armored personnel carriers. A Philippine military delegation recently visited Poland to look into equipment that Manila can buy, he said.
- The Philippines acquired 32 S-70i Black Hawk helicopters from Polish Sikorsky subsidiary PZL Mielec in a deal worth 32 billion pesos ($509.60 million) in 2022. The delivery of the last seven helicopters was completed last month, the Philippine military said.
- Bartoszewski said separately talks were ongoing between Ukraine and Poland for the transfer of Warsaw’s MiG-29 fighter jets, in exchange for drone technology from Kyiv.
- Bartoszewski said the two sides are discussing whether to refurbish the jets before transferring them to Ukraine as well as the kind of technology Warsaw gets in return.
- Poland has been one of Ukraine’s strongest backers since Russia began its full-scale invasion in 2022, providing military aid and serving as a key logistics hub for Western assistance.