WARSAW

Poland has received an “unofficial” request from the US to consider temporarily lending one of its two Patriot air-defense batteries for deployment in the Middle East, according to a report published by daily Rzeczpospolita on Tuesday.

The newspaper says Washington has not submitted a formal request but has approached Warsaw informally amid growing concern over the security situation in the Middle East and the need to protect US forces and allies there.

No decision has been made, and any move would be politically and militarily sensitive because Poland currently has only two operational Patriot batteries, according to the daily report, which cites unnamed Polish officials.

For Poland, lending one battery would imply temporarily losing half of its current Patriot capabilities. Warsaw has repeatedly argued that, as NATO's largest eastern-flank state bordering Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, it cannot reduce its own air defenses.

Last year, Polish officials denied that Poland's Patriot systems could be transferred elsewhere, saying, "Polish patriots defend the Polish sky."

The issue is especially sensitive because Poland has only recently begun developing its medium-range air defense network under the Wisla program.

The country currently operates two Patriot batteries bought from the US and has ordered six more, but those are not expected to arrive until later this decade. Poland is also seeking to buy around 800 additional PAC-2 GEM-T missiles, though deliveries may be delayed because of increased global demand linked to the Middle East conflict.

The report comes as demand for Patriot systems has risen sharply because of the conflict involving Iran and Israel and the broader US military build-up in the region.

Patriot batteries are used to defend against aircraft, drones, and ballistic missiles and are in particularly short supply globally because they are also deployed in Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere in the Middle East.

The reported American approach appears to underline growing pressure on Washington’s Patriot stockpile.

The US has already redirected interceptors and air-defense systems to the Middle East and warned allies that longer-term regional conflict could affect deliveries of weapons both to Ukraine and to European states such as Poland.