from transition to hegemony - The Watson Institute for International ...

BTR 80 transports to the Iraqi Army. 38 This follows other deals previously negotiated that were
worth about 236 million dollars in the supply of helicopters, weapons, ambulances, and fuel and
water systems. 39 But these are relatively small investments in comparison to what one might
expect. It might be more useful, therefore, to consider the transaction that has been called the
“deal of the century” in Poland: the $3.5 billion purchase of 48 F-16 fighter planes from
Lockheed Martin, 40 the biggest military purchase, since the end of the Cold War, by any
postcommunist country. 41
This deal, signed on April 18, 2003, offers incredible terms, at least on paper. Not only is
payment delayed for 8 years, at below interest rate expectations, and guaranteed by the US
Congress, but it also provides offset payments to Poland. The terms of the deal assure that, over
ten years, at least $6 billion in US investments would go to Poland, with estimates sometimes
going up to $7.5 billion and $12 billion, depending on how one values the multiplier associated
with the initial economic outlay. It’s not a simple win/win outcome, however, especially for
Polish/European relations.
Poland was also considering other planes for their purchase, planes made in the European
Union, the Swedish-British Gripen jet and the French-made Mirage 2000. 42 Poland has paid for
their American choice, with vary degrees of openness. Some speculate, for instance, that PSA
Peugeot-Citroen chose Slovakia over Poland for the construction of a new factory as payback. 43
Sometimes it’s more explicit. President Chirac, on the occasion of the visit by Vice Minister and
Minister of the Economy Jerzy Hausner to Paris on February 28, 2005, reminded him that he
should buy Airbus rather than Boeing 787s when Poland considers adding six planes (a $500-700
million contract) to its commercial fleet in Polish Airlines (the government owns 68% of the
stock in LOT). This, he implied, would help Poland overcome the damage that came from
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