Free Republic

Warsaw. (Interfax-Europe) - US-based defense contractor Lockheed Martin signed state-owned Polish ship builder Stocznia Szczecinska Nowa (SSN) to build four ships by 2008 as part of an offset deal concerning Poland's purchase of American F-16 fighter jets, the shipyard said in a statement Thursday. In the first stage of the project, SSN is to build two container ships, valued at a total of USD 80 mln, which are to be delivered in 2007. SSN and Lockheed are also beginning work on the second stage of the project, which includes the construction of two other ships in 2007 and 2008. "The...