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Poland signs major deal

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http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/5662991.htm

Friday, Apr 18, 2003
Financial Markets

Posted on Fri, Apr. 18, 2003

Poland signs major package deal to buy F-16 jet fighters
Associated Press

DEBLIN, Poland -Poland on Friday signed a deal to buy 48 U.S.-made F-16 jet fighters for $3.5 billion, the biggest defense contract by a former Soviet bloc country since the end of the Cold War.

The Polish government announced last December that it had chosen the U.S. government-backed offer over two rival European offers - the Swedish-British Gripen jet and the French-made Mirage 2000. But negotiating the investment in the so-called offset deals took several more months.

Along with the purchase of planes from Lockheed Martin Corp., Polish and U.S. officials also concluded an agreement setting out U.S. transfer of technology, business deals with Polish manufacturers and investment in Poland that more than offsets the cost of the planes.

Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski and U.S. Gen. Tome Walters completed the F-16 contract at the Polish Air Force Academy in Deblin, some 60 miles south of Warsaw, at a signing ceremony attended by Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller and U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill.

Poland's decision to buy new F-16 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin will help save about 500 jobs at a North Texas assembly plant and lay the groundwork for sales of future-generation fighters, company and independent analysts said earlier.

With its complexity and scope, the package underscored strong U.S.-Polish strategic ties, reinforced in recent months by Warsaw's support for the war in Iraq.

Lockheed Martin, based in Bethesda, Md., will be replacing Poland's Soviet-made MiG fighters as the country modernizes its military to NATO standards. Poland joined NATO in 1999, along with Hungary and the Czech Republic.

The purchase contract specifies items of delivery including the Lockheed Martin aircraft, spare engines, missiles and bombs as well as technical details and the terms of training for Polish pilots. The aircraft will be built in Fort Worth, Texas, and deliveries are to start in 2006.

Szmajdzinski spoke of "the contract of the century" at Friday's ceremony.

The offset program is to run over 10 years. Major projects include plans by General Motors to expand a plant in Gliwice, Poland, and a pledge by Motorola to invest in a state-of-the-art communication system for Polish public services.

Polish plants are to make engines and engine parts for Lockheed Martin and for Pratt & Whitney. U.S. companies, including a subsidiary of the Houston-based Halliburton Co., are to modernize a major refinery at Gdansk and cooperate with Polish pharmaceuticals makers.

Polish leaders hope the deals will create jobs and boost the economy, which slowed to about 1 percent growth last year.

On Tuesday, Polish defense officials signed a $1.2 billion deal for the delivery of 690 Finnish-made troop carriers over the next 10 years.




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