Poland eager to embrace new NATO relationships. (Legislation and Policy).

[The following article is a reprint from Defense News, May 13-19, 2002. We would like to thank Defense News for their permission to reprint this article.]

When Jerzy Szmajdzinski was tapped to head Poland's Defense Ministry in October 2001, the career government official was given just ten months to choose the Air Force's new multirole fighter jet. With the contract award now set for August, he sits at the center of a heated trans-Atlantic contest between the Swedish-British JAS-39 Gripen and the U.S. F-16C/D Block 50+.

Since the Gripen team recently won contracts in Hungary and the Czechoslovakia Republic, United States industry and senior government officials have aggressively lobbied Szmajdzinski and other Polish officials for the F-16, offering new and better financial terms in an attempt to seal the deal.

During a recent trip to Washington, Szmajdzinski talked with Defense News staff writer Amy Svitak about fighters, North Atlantic Treaty Organization enlargement and Poland's contribution to the international fight against terrorism.

Question. What is the status of the Polish fighter competition between Europe and the U.S.?

Answer. There is strong competition between the British proposal and the American proposal. Poland is interested in the possibility of a financial loan, through the Defense Export Loan Guarantee program and flexible timing of payments. Offsets are considered a chance to have access to new technology, which can bring new jobs. In Poland, we have 20 percent unemployment. It is important we have opportunity for cooperating with Lockheed Martin. I can say that the efforts made in the recent weeks have been encouraging but not sufficient if you compare with the efforts made by BAE SYSTEMS which is helping to market the Gripen.

Question. Will the U.S. government change the loan program in time to affect your decision?

Answer. It is April now. Bids must be given by mid- or late August. Of course we will be watching the formal legal processes, and will be interested in them. We are making changes in our offset law as well. It will be more flexible. And they will promote more new technologies. For example, the multiplier for the value of new technologies at the moment is two. After the amendment, it may be five.

Question What has Poland done to bring its armed forces up to NATO standards?

Answer. Tender for the wheeled armored personnel carrier, guided missiles, the radio relays, equipment for ships and antiaircraft missiles. We are also operating Mi-24 helicopters. We are also equipping armed forces with new communication and reconnaissance, withdrawing some equipment. And trying to make our processes more deployable and have more survivable outside the areas of our country.

Question. Where do you expect to see intensified U.S.-Polish defense cooperation?

Answer. Secretary Rumsfeld proposed we intensify information exchanges and searches for new armed forces structures. By exchanging these experiences, they could be beneficial for both our parties. We could be the creators and role model for others. Of course, Polish-American cooperation to a larger extent should concern cooperation between American and Polish defense industry in research and development. We already have the beginnings of this cooperation. There was a conference in March at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies on the modernization of the Polish defense industrial base. We also are implementing assistance programs.

Question. What contributions has Poland made in Afghanistan and other areas of the war?

Answer. We have contributed to cooperation in the war on terror, to the joint military base in Bagram. Our troops are in the region of the Persian Gulf. One of our ships, a logistics ship, will be used in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. We have informed Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld of our readiness to provide equipment and training for the armed forces of Afghanistan.

Question. Is Poland prepared to go to war with Iraq if the United States decides to do so?

Answer. We think it is most important to have the antiterrorist coalition as broad as possible. It is very helpful in running this war. This is why one should do everything possible to keep this coalition. First, it is necessary to solve the Middle East conflict, or at least to begin solving this conflict. Political solutions have been found in Afghanistan. The alternative to the Taliban has been sought. The conditions of the new government have been created. As far as Iraq is concerned, it will be useful to implement similar programs. We know it will be much more difficult in Iraq.

Question. Do you support Russia's new relationship with NATO?

Answer. It is in the interest of Poland for NATO to develop a relationship with Russia because we want our eastern border to be not a border between two worlds but of cooperation.

Question. How has NATO's role shifted since September 11, 2001?

Answer. The new vision should reinforce the trans-Atlantic bond to resolve current situations and discuss the technology to conduct anti-terror operations in and out of NATO operations. It is important to establish good relations between NATO and the European Union. NATO should also have a new military capability: strategic lift. NATO armed forces should reconsider the rapid-reaction forces and special forces.

Question. Is the United States doing enough to share technology with its NATO partners?

Answer. We think the missile defense system program could be a sort of glue for the trans-Atlantic community, a chance for cooperation in research and development. I think that it is inevitable, the question is only when and to what extent. It would have to mean that the technologies would be provided, and that we would work together on new technologies.