US Department of Defense announces Poland chosen for European maintenance centre for PAC-3 missiles for Patriot

The US government, in coordination with Lockheed Martin and European allies, has chosen Poland to host the European maintenance centre for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles. This was reported by the press service of the US Department of Defense.

The decision was announced on X by Poland's Deputy Minister of National Defence, Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka. According to her, the new centre will be located in Poland, and the final choice was made in favour of Warsaw.

According to the Ukrainian outlet informator.ua, Poland will host the first PAC-3 missile maintenance centre for Patriot systems outside the United States. Four countries competed for the right to host the facility.

The Ukrainian outlet nfront.org.ua writes that Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway competed for the European site. It says the Polish bid received the highest score from the moment it was submitted.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the US and NATO had chosen his country as the location of the European centre. Shortly before, ahead of Tuesday's cabinet meeting, he had said that Poland was expecting good news on this project.

According to Tusk, the negotiations had come close to the very end. He said he was not authorised to make an official statement, but that a lot spoke in favour of Poland being chosen as the partner in this project.

As the Ukrainian outlet informator.ua writes, the centre will not produce missiles. It will handle their maintenance, inspections and the upkeep of combat readiness for NATO countries.

Sobkowiak-Czarnecka called the decision historic. On X she wrote in Ukrainian: "A historic decision! A service centre for PAC-3 missiles for Patriot systems will be created in Poland! Four countries competed for the European location of this investment, besides Poland – Germany" (translated).

According to her, the contest for hosting the centre was especially intense: the four countries understood its importance for national and regional security. The Polish outlet fakt.pl, citing the Pentagon, reports that Poland will become the host country of the European maintenance centre for PAC-3 launchers.

In September 2026, the Ukrainian outlet podrobnosti.ua reported that about 800 PAC-3 missiles remained in the US, roughly 13 per Patriot battery.

In July 2025, Germany said that the delivery of Patriot systems to Ukraine would be delayed by several months, even though the allies have more than thirty batteries. Now Germany has lost the contest for the service centre for these systems.

Poland remains a country with a growing economy. According to the IMF forecast, its GDP growth in 2026 will be 3.4%, and its public debt 66.6% of GDP.

Poland is placing military infrastructure amid tension near the border with Belarus. In August 2023 it set up a task force at the border because of the appearance of the Wagner private military company in Belarus, and in September 2025 it moved equipment to the border.