Poland could accelerate the purchase of a new air defense system able to target ballistic missiles, following the situation in Ukraine. Poland selected the four finalists in January from among 14 bidders. All four finalists were invited this week for a second round of technical dialogue meetings, according to Marty Coyne, business development manager of MEADS International.

Poland selected MEADS International, and its main U.S. partner -- Lockheed Martin Corp. -- as one of four finalists for a contract worth up to $5 billion to modernize its air and missile defense systems.

If MEADS wins the competition, it would help boost business at Lockheed Martin in Salina, which developed the 360-degree search radar for the anti-missile system.

The other finalists for the Polish contract are a French consortium that includes Thales and MBDA with Aster 30, the IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries) with the Arrow 2, and Massachusetts-based Raytheon, developer of the Patriot anti-missile system.

United States would like to place an operational ballistic missile defense site in Poland by 2018 - one intended more for long-range threats from places like Iran, rather than Russia. MEADS could counter any medium-range missile threats from Russia.

Even before the crisis, Poland had committed almost $50 billion to its military modernization effort, including about $10 billion to its air defenses.
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