By Barbara Erling and Karol Badohal
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland is preparing to start talks on ordering over 100 HIMARS rocket launchers under a framework agreement with U.S. arms maker Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT), a senior military official in the eastern-flank NATO country said.
"In the near future, we will start negotiations for the first executive contract for HOMAR-A," the head of the Armaments Agency, General Artur Kuptel, told Reuters, referring to the Polish specification for the M142 HIMARS system.
"We have a (framework) agreement for 486, and the first executive contract will be for over 100."
Officials from the previous government have repeatedly accused the current ruling coalition, which took power in December 2023, of slowing Poland's arms purchases and hiding intentions to scale down or cancel orders under earlier framework deals in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Poland's government has said it will spend 4.1% of gross domestic product on defence in 2024, the highest among NATO members for a second year, with a pledge to increase this to 4.7% in 2025.
Kuptel said that before starting talks to purchase HIMARS, the agency would need to complete negotiations linked to a similar precision rocket system ordered from South Korea.
He declined to say whether HIMARS units could start reaching Poland in 2025 nor whether U.S. declarations on prioritising some deliveries to Ukraine could cause a delay.
Asked about the prospects for producing rockets for the HIMARS launchers in Poland, Kuptel said: "Our intention is for...every combat means, from the smallest, tiny 5.56 (bullet), to the largest artillery or missile systems, to be manufactured in Poland, but one must measure one's capabilities against one's intentions."
In parallel with the HIMARS agreement, Poland in April signed an order for 72 South Korean K239 Chunmoo rocket launchers, under the Polish specification HOMAR-K, with deliveries set to start in 2026.
Polish privately-owned defence firm WB and South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace plan to produce ammunition for the launchers in Poland.
The Armaments Agency has already signed about 100 military contracts in 2024 with several dozen more expected by year-end, Kuptel said.