US backs Poland's request to buy Tomahawk cruise missiles and Typhon MRC launchers to strike targets 1,600 km away.

Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced after talks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in Washington that the Pentagon has issued a positive recommendation on Poland's request to acquire BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles and compatible launch systems. The prospective purchase would provide Polish forces with a 1,600 km conventional precision-strike capability, extending operational reach beyond existing HIMARS and Homar-K rocket artillery while complementing air-launched JASSM missiles. Candidate launch platforms include the U.S. Army's ground-based Typhon Mid-Range Capability (MRC) battery with Mk 70 Mod 1 launchers as well as vertical launch integration aboard Poland's three Miecznik-class frigates.

Following talks between Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon has issued a positive recommendation on Poland's request to acquire Tomahawk cruise missiles and compatible launch systems. (Picture source: US DoD)

Key Tactical Insights:

• Approval Status & Timeline: Warsaw submitted its formal request several months prior to the November 10, 2026 announcement. While the U.S. executive branch and Pentagon support the proposed sale, final authorization rests with the U.S. Congress, which Deputy Defence Minister Paweł Bejda indicated could review the deal in early 2027. Missile quantities, costs, and delivery dates remain undisclosed.

• Strike Capability & Variants: Relevant configurations include the conventional Block IV and modernized Block V subsonic cruise missiles manufactured by Raytheon (RTX). With a nominal range of 1,600 km, the Tomahawk would provide Polish forces with deep precision-strike reach well beyond existing HIMARS and Homar-K rocket artillery, complementing air-launched JASSM-ER missiles.

• Candidate Launch Platforms: Warsaw is weighing two primary deployment routes: the U.S. Army's ground-based Typhon Mid-Range Capability (MRC) battery—featuring container-mounted Mk 70 Mod 1 launchers with 16 ready-to-fire cells per battery—or vertical launch integration into the 32 Strike-length Mk 41 cells planned for each of Poland's three Miecznik-class frigates.

• Production & Delivery Constraints: Delivery timelines will depend on Raytheon's effort to scale annual Tomahawk output from roughly 200 to over 1,000 missiles, competing against U.S. stockpile replenishment following the 2026 Iran conflict and parallel allied orders such as Germany's pursuit of three Typhon batteries and up to 400 Tomahawk missiles.

On November 10, 2026, Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced that the United States had given a positive recommendation to Poland's request to purchase Tomahawk cruise missiles and the launchers needed to fire them. Speaking after talks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in Washington, he explained that Warsaw had submitted its request several months earlier and that final approval now depended on the U.S. Congress. The principal launcher options include the U.S. Army's Typhon Mid-Range Capability (MRC), the Mk 70 Mod 1 launcher and a possible integration aboard Poland's three planned Wicher-class frigates. The acquisition would give Polish ground forces a long-range conventional strike capability of 1,600 km, well beyond the reach of their existing HIMARS and Homar-K rocket launchers, while complementing JASSM cruise missiles carried by Polish F-35s.

Deputy Defence Minister Paweł Bejda indicated on November 11 that congressional authorization could follow in early 2027, although Warsaw has not yet announced the number of missiles or launchers sought, the procurement budget or a delivery schedule. Germany's parallel pursuit of three Typhon systems and 400 Tomahawks, alongside American inventory replenishment after the 2026 Iran conflict, is likely to influence availability, making manufacturing capacity and delivery priority central to Poland's negotiations. Poland's interest concerns a family of long-range cruise missiles that entered U.S. Navy service in 1984 and have since been employed from surface warships and submarines against land targets. The versions that are the most relevant for a potential Polish acquisition are the Block IV, designated RGM/UGM-109E, and its modernized successor, the Block V, which entered U.S. Navy service in 2021.

Related Topic: Germany buys US Tomahawk cruise missiles and Typhon launchers to build a national strike force

Manufactured by Raytheon, part of RTX, these subsonic missiles use a Williams F415 turbofan engine and, in the conventional Block IV configuration, a WDU-36/B warhead weighing 313 kg, including 120 kg of explosive material. Their nominal range of 1,600 km allows strikes beyond the reach of Poland's existing ground-launched missile inventory, while their navigation combines inertial guidance, GPS, Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) and Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC). The Block IV introduced two-way satellite communications for in-flight retargeting, while the Tomahawk Block V improves navigation and communications and provides the basis for two specialized variants: the Block Va, designed to engage moving ships, and the Block Vb, equipped with the Joint Multiple Effects Warhead System (JMEWS) for hardened land targets. 

Poland is also reportedly interested in the Typhon Mid-Range Capability (MRC), a missile system that emerged after the United States withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in August 2019, ending restrictions on ground-launched missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 km. Its Mk 70 launcher incorporates four 7.7 m Strike-length Mk 41 cells inside a 12.19 m ISO container, transported horizontally on a semitrailer and raised vertically for firing. A standard battery operates four launchers with 16 ready-to-fire cells, supported by a Battery Operations Center, communications equipment, prime movers and ammunition vehicles. Each cell can accommodate a Tomahawk or an RIM-174 SM-6, meaning an eight/eight missile allocation halves the battery's immediate land-attack capacity compared with 16 Tomahawks.

On September 28, 2026, the U.S. Army's 3rd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery Regiment fired a Tomahawk at China Lake after five weeks of training with U.S. Navy and Raytheon personnel, establishing a recent training precedent for European-based artillery units, although the duration of the training event does not establish how long a Polish unit would require to achieve operational certification. Poland also has a potential naval route for the Tomahawk through its three Wicher-class frigates under the Miecznik programme, each planned with 32 Strike-length Mk 41 cells, providing 96 cells across the future fleet, although those cells must also accommodate air defense weapons. The frigates will use the Thales TACTICOS combat management system, creating an integration requirement involving Tomahawk weapon-control software, missile mission preparation, launcher interfaces and certification of the complete shipboard configuration.

Comparable ships include Dutch De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates with 40 Mk 41 cells, Australian Hobart-class destroyers with 48, and Japanese Kongo-class destroyers with 90. The Royal Navy employs Tomahawks from the 533 mm torpedo tubes of its Astute-class nuclear-powered attack submarines, but Poland's three planned Swedish A26 submarines lack the vertical launch cells and associated equipment needed for the relevant Tomahawk configurations. A land-based Typhon force would therefore provide a separate land-based launch force without reducing the frigates' air defense capacity or requiring submarine modifications, while leaving naval integration as a possible additional capability. Poland's existing conventional precision-strike inventory includes AGM-158A JASSM missiles carried by F-16C/D fighters and the AGM-158B-2 JASSM-ER ordered on May 28, 2024, with several hundred missiles intended to provide a nominal 1,000 km air-launched strike capability.

The Tomahawk's range exceeds that missile figure by 600 km, or 60%, but the JASSM's total operational reach must also include the launching aircraft's flight radius. Poland operates 48 F-16C/D aircraft and has ordered 32 F-35A Husarz fighters, making air-launched missiles an established but aircraft-dependent strike option. However, the Typhon MRC could additionally employ SM-6 missiles against aircraft, selected missile threats and surface targets, potentially complementing Poland's IBCS, Patriot PAC-3 MSE and LTAMDS investments under the Wisła air defense programme. Nevertheless, such employment would require the procurement of SM-6s and compatible fire-control integration, while every cell allocated to SM-6 would reduce the number of Tomahawks immediately available. 

Currently, Germany's Typhon negotiations may provide a procurement benchmark: three systems and up to 400 Tomahawk Block Vb missiles, with a broader estimated cost of €3.4 billion. An indicative breakdown of €220 million for launchers and €1.15 billion for missiles implies €2.875 million per missile before other acquisition expenses, although Polish contractual prices could differ. Germany accelerated its negotiations after Washington cancelled a planned U.S. long-range fires battalion deployment in May 2026, which would have included the Typhon and eventually Dark Eagle hypersonic weapons. Its proposed 400 missiles equal 25 complete loads for a 16-cell battery, while three batteries would hold 48 missiles initially, leaving 352 for reloads and reserves. However, U.S. forces reportedly expended more than 850 Tomahawks during the 2026 Iran conflict, exceeding Germany's proposed 400-missile inventory by more than a factor of two and increasing pressure on export schedules.

RTX and the Pentagon concluded a seven-year arrangement in February 2026 targeting annual Tomahawk production above 1,000 missiles, but Japan's separate 400-missile acquisition has already encountered delays, indicating that congressional approval and production capacity would remain distinct constraints for a Polish purchase. Furthermore, a Tomahawk purchase would require Poland to acquire more than launchers and missiles because mission preparation depends on compatible geographic databases, target information, flight-planning software and missile-control interfaces. For instance, the TERCOM uses stored terrain elevations, the DSMAC compares imagery with reference scenes, and GPS and inertial guidance provide additional position estimates throughout flight.

Block IV and Block V communications allow in-flight mission changes, although a missile can execute a complete preprogrammed mission without continuous two-way communications. Polish operational independence would consequently depend on access to mission-generation equipment, geographic data, communications services and maintenance support, as well as the authority to prepare missions nationally. Poland also participates with France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom in the European Long Range Strike Approach (ELSA), while the German-British Trinity House framework includes prospective weapons exceeding 2,000 km in range. However, neither European effort currently offers an immediately available substitute for the Tomahawk. 

For Poland, the principal operational limitation of a Typhon acquisition would be the relationship between launcher numbers, missile stocks and the number of engagements that could be conducted before reloading. One Typhon battery provides 16 ready-to-fire cells, two provide 32 and three provide 48; a hypothetical purchase of 100 Tomahawks would therefore support six complete single-battery loads plus four missiles, excluding reserves and training expenditure. Three fully loaded batteries could accommodate 48% of that inventory simultaneously, leaving 52 missiles outside the launchers. Applying Germany's indicative €220 million for three launcher systems produces an arithmetic average of €73.3 million per system, excluding missiles, integration, infrastructure, training and support.

The Typhon launcher's 12.19 m container, semitrailer, prime mover and accompanying command and support vehicles also impose transport, maintenance and protection requirements that grow with the number of batteries purchased. A Polish Tomahawk force could place military command facilities, missile units, airbases and logistics infrastructure within a nominal 1,600 km missile reach, but the number of targets that could be engaged during an initial firing cycle would remain limited by the available missile inventory.

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Written by Jérôme Brahy - Defense Analyst

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, focusing on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, South Korea, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters globally.