A Cold War-era NATO fuel system designed to keep allied armies moving during wartime is getting extended into Poland, Polish officials said Friday.
The $5.5 billion military pipeline initiative will connect Poland to NATO’s Central Europe Pipeline System, which involves a collection of allied countries.
The deal, signed during a ceremony in Warsaw, involves the construction of pipelines stretching some 200 miles to connect with Germany, Poland’s deputy defense minister, Cezary Tomczyk, said Friday. He referred to it as a NATO-funded project.
NATO developed its network of military fuel lines in preparation for potential conflict with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The system, launched in the late 1950s and developed over time, is designed to ensure the delivery of jet fuel, gasoline and diesel across NATO territory.
Poland has been pushing for inclusion into the network for years. Tomczyk said the discussions began in earnest in 2014, soon after Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula.
It wasn’t immediately clear when the extended network would be up and running, but the push to extend military fuel lines into Poland comes at a time of high tension with Russia. It also isn’t clear if any plans exist to extend the network for other NATO allies to use.
Posted by John3262005