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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland has announced full operational readiness of its US-supplied Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS), an air-defence network that includes Patriot missile batteries. That makes it the first of America’s allies to fully operationalise the system.
“This is a great moment for all of us,” declared defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. “This is an example of the great Polish-American alliance, a joint investment in security and defence, deterrence, and protection of NATO’s eastern flank.”
US ambassador Thomas Rose, speaking alongside Kosiniak-Kamysz, likewise hailed the moment as “a huge win for Poland and our allies”, adding: “This is what a serious ally looks like: capability, deterrence, strength.”
“Today, Poland has taken a step visible to the world. Your friends see it, and your enemies see it. No one will be able to mess with Poland any more, and if they do, it will be foolish,” added Rose, quoted by news website Interia.
Honored to attend this historic moment with Deputy Prime Minister @KosiniakKamysz as Poland achieved Full Operational Capability of PATRIOT with IBCS—setting the standard for NATO. This is what a serious ally looks like: capability, deterrence, strength. A huge win for Poland and… pic.twitter.com/IMa8qiycEj
— Ambasador Tom Rose (@USAmbPoland) December 18, 2025
As part of a major defence investment drive in recent years, Warsaw in 2024 signed a $2.5 billion deal with the US for IBCS, which is a key part of Poland’s medium-range Wisła and short-range Narew air defence programmes.
In October 2023, the first Patriot systems procured from the US were deployed at Warsaw Babice airport. The Wisła programme will now be expanded to include eight Patriot batteries, parts of which will be produced in Poland itself.
IBCS is “the brain” that connects radars, launchers and other systems, such as F-35 aircraft, said Kosiniak-Kamysz. IBCS reaching operational readiness is the culmination of “many, many years” of work, added the defence minister, who “thanked all Poles, all taxpayers who contribute to this system”.
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz/X
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
