Poland Procures AW149 Helicopters for Its Land Forces

The AW149 is the choice made in the Perkoz program.

Head of the Polish MoD, Mariusz Błaszczak, signed a procurement contract on Jul. 1, 2022, at the PZL-Świdnik center owned by Leonardo, covering the procurement of AW149 helicopters for the land forces.

The contract, with a worth of PLN 8.25 B gross (USD ~ 1.81 B) worries the shipment of 32 AW149 battleground assistance helicopters, while the shipments would happen in between 2023 and2029 Krzysztof Płatek, spokesperson for the Armament Agency, the Polish MoD’s procurement body included, by means of his Twitter account, that the contract would likewise involve developing appropriate commercial capacity– locally.

1 lipca br. została podpisana umowa z @PZLSwidnik na dostawę 32 śmigłowców wsparcia pola walki #AW149 Wartość umowy wynosi ok. 8,2 mld zł brutto, a śmigłowce zostaną dostarczone do Sił Zbrojnych RP w latach 2023-2029 Umowa wiąże się z ustanowieniem potencjału przemysłowego. pic.twitter.com/aC7culAPut

— Krzysztof Płatek (@krzysztof_atek) July 1, 2022

This procurement concludes the Polish Perkoz helicopter program, intended at first at changing the outdated Mi-2 fleet. Noteworthy, this is a 2nd acquisition that Poland is making at Leonardo’s PZL-Świdnik center. Formerly Warsaw likewise obtained 4 AW101 maritime helicopters for its Navy.

Let us remember that the initial presumption of the Perkoz program was to acquire 32 rotary-wing airplane in 3 various versions: battle support/advanced airmanship training, command and control variation, and reconnaissance/EW variation. The spec released in May 2020 recommended that the airplane are to be efficient in carrying either 5 soldiers with complete package, or approximately 1,000 kgs of payload. The training requirement implies that the helicopters will have a double set of controls, while the close assistance requirement recommends that the helicopter will be equipped.

The MoD declares that the helicopters would get sensing units, weapons, and directed and unguided missiles/rockets, in addition to a self-protection suite. The assisted effectors would likewise consist of ATGMs– however it is uncertain which rocket would be picked for that function. Krzysztof Płatek, representative for the Armament Agency recommended that the rocket is going to be a Hellfire-class ATGM, without calling a particular effector. Poland might then obtain either Hellfires, Spike ATGMs (produced in your area), or the MBDA UK Brimstone, currently picked in the Army’s Ottokar-Brzoza tank destroyer program.

Przeciwpancerne pociski rakietowe będą tej klasy co Hellfire, ale wybrany typ stanowi informację niejawną. Natomiast ustanowienie potencjału przemysłowego obejmuje budowę zdolności produkcyjno-obsługowo-naprawczych oraz potencjału do ew. dalszej modernizacji w przyszłości.

— Krzysztof Płatek (@krzysztof_atek) July 1, 2022

In even more tweets, Płatek discusses that despite the fact that the kind of the rocket has actually not been revealed (as it is private), the rocket coming from the very same class as the US-made Hellfire will have a series of a minimum of 8 kilometers. Utilizing the argument that the details on the particular type is private, Płatek did not expose that type.

The Polish helicopter procurement legend continues, following the 2016 cancelation of the Caracal offer. Far the Polish MoD obtained small amounts of S-70 i Black Hawk helicopters for the SOF part and AW101 s for the Navy. The AW149 would end up being the 3rd key in service– which leaves from the Caracal tender presumptions, where 50 helicopters were to be collected in a typical fleet, throughout all branches of the armed force.