Staff ReporterWARSAW — Britain will deploy its Sky Sabre missile system in Poland, its defense minister said on Thursday during a visit to Warsaw, as NATO moves to beef up the security of its eastern flank in view of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Britain has previously said the missile defense system has the capability to hit a tennis ball-sized object traveling at the speed of sound.
“We are going to deploy the Sky Sabre medium-range, anti-air missile system to Poland with about 100 personnel to make sure that we stand alongside Poland, protecting her airspace from any further aggression by Russia,” Ben Wallace told a news conference.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the missile system was being deployed after a request from the Polish government and will remain under the control of British forces at all times.
“It is, as ever, a purely defensive capability which we are providing on a bilateral basis to Poland,” the spokesman said. (Reporting by Alan Charlish and Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Alex Richardson)