Poland, Slovakia Discuss AMV Acquisition Amid Conflicting Reports

WARSAW, Poland — Poland's and Slovakia's defense ministries are negotiating the purchase of eight-wheel drive Rosomak armored modular vehicles (AMV) by Slovakia, the Polish Defence Ministry said in a statement Thursday. This comes following Slovak news reports on plans by Slovakia's Defence Ministry to scrap the acquisition.

Bartlomiej Misiewicz, the spokesman for the Polish Ministry of Defense, said negotiations "will be continued, as indicated by the talks by the defense ministers of Poland and Slovakia that took place during NATO's summit in Warsaw."

The Slovak military was to acquire 30 vehicles, which are built by Polish manufacturer Rosomak S.A. under a license from Finland's Patria, within a three-year period in what was announced as the largest Polish-Slovak military deal in history. However, an unnamed Slovak Defence Ministry official told Slovakian media outlet SME that the project was "stopped due to [its] military and economic disadvantageousness for Slovakia."

The two governments signed a letter of intent to cooperate on military acquisitions in July 2015. Following the signing of the agreement, Poland's then-Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz announced that Rosomak S.A. would obtain more than 120 million zloty (US $30 million) from the contract. The vehicle's turret would be supplied by the Slovak defense industry.

Under the plan, the project was to enable the Slovak Armed Forces to replace its outdated OT-64 SKOT armored personnel carriers, which were designed in the 1960s.

Rosomak S.A. is owned by Poland's leading state-run defense group PGZ.

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