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Last update - 12:38 10/04/2008 Brothers in arms By Yossi Melman Tags: U.S., Poland, Israel, Rafael In a phone conversation between Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who is now visiting Israel, the matter of Israeli arms sales to Poland came up. But even before arriving here, Tusk heaped much praise on the developing ties between the two countries in this area. In an interview with Haaretz before his trip to Israel, Tusk noted that in certain cases, the treatment Poland gets from Israel is even better than what it gets from its good friend and most important ally, the United States. Tusk was referring to the big contract the Polish Defense Ministry signed in 2004 with the Rafael Armament Development Authority, whereby Rafael will supply Spike anti-tank missiles (from the Gil missile family) to the Polish army. The value of the deal is around a quarter of a billion dollars. This is a so-called offset agreement: a reciprocal acquisition. As part of the deal, Rafael transferred missile technology to Poland and set up a plant outside the city of Radom to build the missiles; the plant employs hundreds of workers. Security sources in Poland praised Rafael and noted that it is meeting all its commitments. It is doing this despite the difficulties Poland encountered with its requests from the United States for assistance and cooperation on the offset agreements. Advertisement Distress call In another case, Rafael rushed to respond to a distress call from the Polish army, whose forces serve in the international coalition in Afghanistan. The Polish battalion found that its armored vehicles were not sufficiently reinforced to protect against rocket fire and mine explosions, and that without this protection the battalion was likely to incur heavy losses. In an urgent appeal to Israel, Poland asked that its vehicles be reinforced with thicker and more durable armor. Rafael quickly responded, and in a deal valued at several million dollars, reinforced some 30 vehicles of the Polish battalion. Polish officers reported to their colleagues in Israel that even though several vehicles were hit in incidents in Afghanistan, the armor and special protective coating saved the soldiers' lives. While the commander of the Polish ground forces was visiting Israel, the general asked whether Israel had grenade launchers. These launchers are not manufactured in Israel but are purchased from the U.S. as part of the American military aid program. Despite this, Israel provided Poland with around 20 grenade launchers free, but not before obtaining the Pentagon's approval. Another deal, valued at several million dollars, is the sale of as many as 10 small drones made by Aeronautics, a Yavneh-based company. The drones are for the ground forces as well as the Polish army's special unit GROM, which was set up over a decade ago with the help of the U.S.'s Delta Force and Britain's Special Air Service (SAS). The commander of these units, which are now on active operational duty in Afghanistan, visited Israel around a year ago to consider cooperating with parallel units in Israel, such as the Israel Police's antiterrorist unit, the chief of staff's reconnaissance unit and Flotilla 13. Incidentally, GROM had been set up after the lessons learned from the Polish government's efforts in the early 1990s to ensure safe passage to Warsaw for immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union. But the security ties are not all positive. Several years ago Magal, a Yehud company, won a contract to build a fence and provide other protective measures at Warsaw's international airport. The value of the deal was close to $20 million, but it was canceled suddenly and Magal even left behind equipment at the site. Some Polish officials say the company did not meet its commitments. Magal, listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, made do a year ago with a laconic announcement that the contract with a country in East Europe was canceled and that the matter was in court. Rafael also experienced some disappointment. It won a contract worth tens of millions of dollars to install a firing system in armored vehicles Poland intended to buy from a West European country. However Poland's Defense Ministry is delaying the contract and apparently, for unclear reasons, will reduce it by half. The fate of another deal arranged by the Poles is also uncertain. A year ago, Polish Defense Minister Aleksander Szczyglo told Haaretz he is interested in having his country's air-force pilots train in Israel in the operation of old F-16 planes that Poland bought from the United States. There was also talk of upgrading the planes with advanced avionics equipment from Israeli companies. However according to security sources in Israel, "the Poles are delaying and at the moment there is no progress in the matter." Big tender for mid-air refuelers Now on the table is a big tender worth around $100 million, soon to be issued by the Polish Air Force for obtaining two Boeing planes for mid-air refueling. Israel Aerospace Industries has shown an interest in the tender, but will face stiff competition from the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) and from the U.S., which will pressure the Polish government to favor American companies. "The security ties between the two countries," says an Israeli security source, "are better below the surface than they appear and as they relate to the most vital interests in Israel." 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