U.S. to Send Additional Patriot Battery to Poland in March, NATO Ministers Told

New Patriot Battery Bound for Southeastern Poland

The United States will deploy an additional Patriot air-defense battery to Poland next month, expanding NATO's eastern flank missile shield in response to recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure near the alliance border, according to two defense officials familiar with the deployment order. The battery, which includes roughly 90 soldiers from the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, is scheduled to arrive at Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport by March 3, the officials said.

A diplomat at NATO headquarters in Brussels confirmed that alliance defense ministers will receive a closed-door briefing on the deployment during a scheduled meeting on February 18. The diplomat, who was not authorized to discuss the plans publicly, said the battery is intended to protect logistics hubs in southeastern Poland that have become critical to Western military aid flows into Ukraine. The new unit will operate alongside an existing Patriot battery already stationed near Rzeszow, the diplomat said.

The deployment marks the fourth operational Patriot battery under U.S. command in Poland and the second positioned near the southeastern city of Rzeszow, which has served as the primary transit point for military assistance since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. One defense official said the battery will be based at Powidz, approximately 90 kilometers west of Warsaw, after an initial staging period at Rzeszow.

The MIM-104 Patriot system is a long-range, all-altitude air-defense platform capable of intercepting aircraft, cruise missiles, and short-range ballistic missiles. Each battery typically includes up to eight launchers, a phased-array radar, and an engagement control station. The system has become a priority for NATO's eastern members since Russia began using advanced cruise and ballistic missiles against Ukrainian targets near the alliance frontier.

The United States already maintains Patriot batteries at three Polish locations under rotational agreements: Morag in northeastern Poland, Torun in north-central Poland, and a site near Rzeszow in the southeast, according to public Defense Department documents. The new battery will give U.S. forces in Poland a total of 32 operational launchers, the defense official said.

Deployment Order Signed After Border Strike

A congressional aide on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said committee staff were briefed on the deployment on February 13 and told the move carries an estimated cost of $87 million for the first six months of operations. The aide said the deployment order was signed by the Secretary of Defense on February 11, though the Pentagon has not yet issued a public announcement.

The battery will include launchers, radar, and command-and-control equipment drawn from pre-positioned stocks in Germany, according to the second defense official. The official said the equipment is expected to depart by rail from Grafenwoehr, Germany, on February 22 and arrive in Poland by March 1. The 90 soldiers will fly separately into Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport on February 28, the official said.

Soldiers assigned to the new battery completed a four-week readiness validation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in January before rotating to Germany, the second defense official said. The unit will conduct a final live-fire certification at the NATO Missile Firing Installation on Crete, Greece, during the second week of March, the official said.

The deployment comes two weeks after a Russian missile strike destroyed a Ukrainian military warehouse approximately 40 kilometers from the Polish border on February 3, intensifying calls among NATO members for stronger air defenses along the alliance's eastern edge. Poland's Defense Ministry has publicly requested additional Patriot coverage since December, but the United States had not confirmed a new battery until now.

What to Watch in the Next 48 Hours

NATO's secretary general is expected to address the deployment during remarks following the February 18 defense ministers meeting, the NATO diplomat said, though the alliance has not finalized the language of any public statement. The diplomat added that several Eastern European allies pressed for the additional battery during a January 29 ambassadors' meeting at NATO headquarters. Those allies are expected to issue a joint statement welcoming the deployment once it is announced.

The additional battery will operate under the existing U.S. European Command mission known as Operation Assure, Deter, and Reinforce in Europe, which was established in 2014 after Russia's annexation of Crimea. The mission currently includes approximately 12,000 U.S. troops in Poland on rotational deployments. A separate $210 million infrastructure package at Powidz, approved by Congress in the fiscal 2025 defense appropriations bill, will provide hardened shelters and maintenance facilities for the new battery, the congressional aide said.

What to watch in the next 48 hours: NATO defense ministers will meet in Brussels on February 18, and a formal announcement of the deployment is expected shortly after the closed session. Polish officials are likely to confirm the arrival timeline during a scheduled press briefing in Warsaw on February 19. A spokesman for U.S. European Command declined to comment on future operations. The Pentagon press office did not respond to a request for comment before publication.