On 29th December 2019 the Armaments Inspectorate of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced its intention to procure 4-8 new, multirole naval helicopters, which will be capable of operating from a series of Polish Navy’s combat vessels (ORP Ślązak finalization, 2018-07-06).
Polish Navy’s new naval helicopters will replace currently operated Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprites, which are to be decommissioned shortly due to their obsolescence and a series of technical issues, which result from a shortage of spare and repair parts and lack of support from the OEM. New helicopters will have a mass of up to 6,5 t / Picture: Polish MoD
New multirole helicopters will be tasked with a number of mission sets, such as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) or target acquisition with the use of onboard radar systems. The future procurement contract will also include a logistical package as well as training of crews and maintenance personnel.
In the first step leading to the planned acquisition, the Inspectorate will launch a technical dialogue, which should commence in May and run through to July. During this process the Inspectorate will analyse a number of issues related to the acquired helicopters, such as weapons or communication, self-defense, navigation, EW and IFF systems.