December 18, 2024: Poland wants long-term security and is willing to pay for it. Poland used to buy most of its tanks and other weapons from the United States and Germany. More recently Poland spent over $15 billion on South Korean tanks and other weapons. Now Poland is spending hundreds of million dollars to establish manufacturing for nearly all the components used in 155mm artillery shells. Currently many of these components are imported. This makes Poland dependent on those imports and Poland, as a matter of national policy, wants to reduce dependency in any way it can.

Poland has experienced many tumultuous events in the last two centuries and wants to establish a strong enough military and an array of powerful allies to deal with any potential Russian aggression. For a thousand years Poland has been threatened by attacks from the east and west. Poland joined NATO in 2009 and now belongs to the mightiest mutual defense alliance in the world. NATO nations also possess half the world's GDP. Strong economies can afford to defend themselves. For Poland the main threat is Russia and that was confirmed in 2014 when Russia seized Crimea and the adjacent Donbas provinces from Ukraine in 2014. That was 25 percent of Ukrainian territory. Ukraine has been fighting ever since to get its territory back. That has been successful so far as Russia currently occupies only 18 percent of Ukraine. Poland can sympathize with Ukraine because in the last two centuries Poland has been partitioned, occupied and generally abused several times.

What happened to Ukraine in 2014 was a wakeup call and Poland began rearming in a big way. For example in 2016 Poland ordered another 70 JASSM/Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles. This order was for the AGM-158B JASSM ER that had a longer range of 900 kilometers. In 2014 Poland ordered 40 AGM-158A missiles with a range of 400 kilometers. The Poles are also buying millions of dollars’ worth of spare parts, maintenance equipment and tech support. JASSM is used on Polish F-16 fighters and soon on Poland’s new F-35s.

Poland needs JASSM to deal with the modern air defenses Russia is building. Russia is the only real enemy Poland has in the region and Poland wants to be prepared for the worst. Poland believed the worst was coming and they were right. As a member of NATO Poland expects back up if the Russians come after them and JASSM provides a way to discourage or at least slow down Russian aggression.

JASSM is the third family of GPS guided smart bombs to be developed and is the most expensive. The original JDAM GPS bomb kit cost $26,000 each. The longer range JSOW JDAM with wings and a more powerful guidance system cost $460,000 each. The even longer range JASSM costs over half a million dollars for each of the 400 kilometer versions and over a million dollars for the 900 kilometer JASSM ER. Then there is the SDB/Small Diameter Bomb, a 114 kg JDAM that can also punch through concrete bunkers and other structures. These cost $75,000 each. All these are basically GPS guided smart bombs.

JASSM missiles are 1,045 kg weapons that are basically 455 kg JDAMS with a motor added. JASSM was designed to go after enemy air defense systems or targets deep in heavily defended (against air attack) enemy territory. The original reason for buying these was to have something to deal with air defenses of a nation like China. The missiles are ten times more expensive than a JDAM bomb of the same weight. Aviators make the argument that many aircraft and pilots would be lost if the air defenses of a nation like, perhaps China, were attacked without using JASSM.

JASSM is stealthy and uses GPS and terminal infrared guidance to zero in on heavily defended targets like air defense sites. The terminal guidance enables the missile to land within three meters of the aiming point. If there were a war with North Korea, for example, JASSM would be essential to taking out enemy air defenses, or any other targets that have to be hit early in a war before air defenses can be shut down. This capability is apparently what attracted the South Koreans, who now have F-15K aircraft that can carry JASSM. It also caught the attention of Poland when Russian began making threatening noises.

JASSM was designed to handle the most modern Russian surface to air missiles, which are also being sold to China. North Korea has older missile anti-aircraft systems and can't afford the newer Russian SAMs/Surface to Air Missiles. But even these older air defenses can be dangerous and are best addressed with long range missiles. So there is a need for a missile like JASSM, at least one that works.