Poland shocked by the cost of the Patriot..

via Defense News.

Poland has been pushing toward a purchase of a medium-range air-and-missile defense system for many years, settling on an unprecedented configuration of the Patriot system, but was surprised by the high price tag presented when the U.S. State Department cleared the sale of half of the Patriots Poland plans to buy.

According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, when it notified Congress last month of the potential sale, the deal could cost the country $10.5 billion for four systems — that is roughly 37 billion zloties — which already exceeds by 7 billion zloties what Poland has said it would spend on the entire program.

Story here.

Two words you should focus on.  Unprecedented Configuration.

My guess.

The Poles wanted something unique, boutique and uber expensive and got surprised at the cost of their wish list.

My speculation.

If they went back to the drawing board and requested something a bit more conventional then they would get a lot closer to the price point they're pushing.