Poland to Cancel Norwegian Missile Contract

Poland’s Defence Ministry could cancel the 430m-zloty (€109m) purchase of anti-ship and land attack missiles from Norway’s Kongsberg company due to cuts in expenditure and quality concerns.

The ministry signed a contract for 12 naval strike missiles (NSM) including missiles launchers, transport and communication vehicles in December 2008, according to News.pl.

The company had received 134m zloty (€34m) as a downpayment in January 2009, however, the ministry stopped paying installments due to budget cuts.

Poland’s armed forces had ordered an additional 36 missiles worth 300m zloty (€76m) in exchange for not paying in 2009 and 2010 and agreed to pay 570m zloty (€144m) in 2011.

The government, however, is trying to strike down the contract due to further planned cuts in defence expenditure and quality concerns over the missile system.