Poland buys AW149s

At an Armed Forces and MoD leadership briefing earlier this week, the Polish Minister of Defence (MoD), Mariusz Blaszczak, announced that an agreement will soon be signed with Leonardo Helicopters for the purchase of 32 AW149 medium-lift multi-role military helicopters. The contract is valued at €1,1 billion (USD1,15 billion).

On 7 September 2020, Scramble Magazine reported on Poland aiming for two percent defence spending with helicopter tenders. In October 2019, Polands Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced the "Technical Modernisation Plan 2021-2035" with the main priority set for the replacement of the Mi-24 attack helicopters under the "Kruk" programme. Early 2020, the MoD launched the "Perkoz" programme, a procedure for replacing the Mi-2s by 32 multi-role support helicopters.

According to the information revealed by the Polish News site Defence 24, the AW149s would all be manufactured at PZL Świdnik facility. It is anticipated that the new helicopters will be delivered in three variants: Combat support/advanced training, Command and Reconnaissance/Electronic warfare.

It has not been reported if the AW149s will only be used by the Siły Powietrzne RP (Polish Air Force) or also by the Lotnictwo Wojsk Ladowych (LWL, Polish Army Aviation). Both defence units operate the Mil Mi-2 in various variants.

Strikingly, in March 2021 the technical dialogue in the Perkoz programme was suspended. Twelve potential bidders expressed their interest in participating in this procedure back then. The group also included the PZL Świdnik company, representing Leonardo Helicopters.

Photo by Juliusz Sabak via Defence24.com