Polish Defense Firm Makes Moves to Crack U.S. Market.

• Author: Machi, Vivienne

A major Polish defense contractor is opening a U.S.-based subsidiary to better focus on the North, Central and South American markets and global foreign military sales opportunities.

The WB Group, the largest privately owned defense contractor in Poland, designs and manufactures specialized electronics, military information technology and unmanned aerial systems. WB America, which will be headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, plans to offer these products to all U.S. military services, with a focus on Special Operations Command, as well as to allies in Latin America, said Jim Curtin, the new subsidiary's president.

These technologies include a fully integrated fire control product that connects unmanned aerial vehicles to existing intercoms and command-and-control systems that are deployed in the field, according to the company. This system, known as the battlefield overwatch and strike capability, can be tailored to end-user requirements using technologies such as WB Group's Fly Eye hand-launched intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance UAV, or its Warmate, a catapult-launched drone that can carry three distinct warheads to provide a strike capability.

While the company plans to offer a variety of systems and platforms to markets on the left side of the Atlantic, its initial plan is to build relationships with already established providers, Curtin said in an interview at the National Defense Industrial Association's annual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference in Tampa, Florida.

"For the first year to 18 months, I don't really want to sell a product here," he said. "I want to show that we are reputable, that...