The Armament Inspecorate, which acts on behalf of the Polish Ministry of Defense (MoD), informed that it had received a dozen applications from local and international companies, which show interest in the ‘Perkoz’ programme. It calls for procurement of 32 light, multirole helicopters (Light multirole helicopters for Poland, 2020-05-07).
A dozen companies have shown their interest in the Polish ‘Perkoz’ programme, which calls for procurement of 32 light, multirole helicopters / Photo by: Michal Adamowski, MILMAG Defense&Space
According to major Krzysztof Platem, a spokesperson of the Armament Inspectorate, the list of companies interested in the ‘Perkoz’ programme includes: Works 11, Polish Armaments Group (Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa, PGZ), Air Force Institute of Technology (Instytut Techniczny Wojsk Lotniczych), PZL-Świdnik (a subsidiary of Leonardo), Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Aviation (Sieć Badawcza Łukasiewicz – Instytut Lotnictwa), PZL Mielec (a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin), Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) with Helicopter Division Hindustan Aeronautics, Cobham Aviation Services UK, Airbus Helicopters, Bell Textron, Elbit Systems and Boeing Company.
According to the statement made by the Armament Inspectorate, new helicopters will be procured in three variants: direct fire support, command, observation / reconnaissance. They will have the transport capacity of up 1000 kg of cargo or 5 soldiers in full gear.
New multirole helicopters will replace currently operated legacy Mi-2s, which entered service over 50 years ago. Their further use is might prove to be impractical and hazardous.
The decision to launch the ‘Perkoz’ programme means that the planned modernization of W-3WA Sokol helicopters probably won’t take place. Acquisition of new light multirole helicopters might also delay the planned acquisition of modern attack helicopters, which were to replace currently operated Mi-24D/W rotorcrafts.
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