Poland’s previous government led by Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska) had launched an ambitious military modernization program aiming at the acquisition of up to 70 utility helicopters to fulfil transport, CSAR, ASW, medevac and Special Forces missions, and up to 32 combat rotorcraft. The requirement was to replace the ageing fleet of former Soviet helicopters and the selected supplier was to help develop the domestic aerospace and defense industry through industrial participation, localization and technology transfer.
Although not clearly stated, there were actually a number of other strategic interest behind this program, among which:
– Desire to disengage from Russian suppliers to support and maintain the military helicopter fleets;
– Ambition to play a stronger role as a NATO ally, able and willing to participate in international operations under shared operational commands;
– Willingness to increase Poland’s influence within the EU to match its contribution in terms of geographical size, population and GDP.
Following an initial shortlisting of three manufacturers – namely AgustaWestland, Airbus Helicopters and Sikorsky – in April 2015 the Polish Government had eventually selected Airbus Helicopters’ H225M Caracal, as the platform that could better meet all the different (and often times, diverging) utility operational requirements.
Many were caught by surprise after the announcement, particularly because the winner was the only one, among the shortlisted companies, not having a strong industrial presence in Poland and this was seen as an added complexity to meet the tough industrial participation and localization requirements. In my opinion though, there was a failure to understand the implications of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, which occurred before the conclusion of the tender. This dramatic event shifted the priorities for the Polish Government, who saw in a battle-proof platform a more comfortable choice despite the lesser industrial participation appeal. The Polish Government’s European agenda made the rest.
The outcome of the elections in October 2015 have turned things complicated for Airbus Helicopters, with the current Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) Government re-evaluating the decisions previously made, particularly concerning technology transfer matters.
Despite the persisting difficulties, the company now seems more optimistic and hopes to close soon negotiations in a satisfactory manner. In any case, the other two shortlisted companies are ready to take over at any time and even Bell Helicopter is suggesting that the UH-1Y would be a viable alternative.
At MSPO Lockheed Martin unveiled the armed version of the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, declaring that its gunship configuration could also satisfy the Polish combat requirements.
In the meantime, Leonardo-Finmeccanica’s PZL-Świdnik is quietly completing the upgrade of the Polish Sokol helicopters to the W-3PL Głuszec combat configuration.
We’ll see …

After this long preamble, necessary to set the scene for the combat helicopter program, the lack of any revealing announcement during MSPO does not come as a surprise.
According to its initial plans, with the ‘Kruk’ (Raven) competition Poland is seeking to acquire between 16 and 32 attack helicopters – depending on budget constraints – to replace the current fleets of Mil Mi-24s. Contenders are:
– Airbus Helicopters with the EC665 Tiger HAD (MTU engines);
– Bell Helicopter with the AH-1Z Cobra (General Electric engines);
– Boeing with the AH-64 Apache (General Electric engines);
– Turkish Aerospace Industries with the T129 ATAK (LHTEC engines).
(N.B. the important role that engine manufacturers can play in support to OEMs, often times is not reported, nor consistently sought after by some manufacturers)
All contenders are in discussions with the domestic defense equipment manufacturer – the Polish Armament Group (Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa – PGZ) – preparing the grounds for thorough, direct and indirect, industrial collaboration in case of being selected (By the way, for any of the programs). Following Turkish Aerospace Industries’ bold statement in February, the LoI announced by Boeing in May, and the deal signed by Bell Helicopter in June, during MSPO also Leonardo-Finmeccanica and Lockheed Martin have signed compelling Letters of Intent with PGZ.
Indeed, for the industrial component of the tender to be satisfied, closing a deal with PGZ is crucial, but the engagement of qualified Polish SMEs is equally important. Again, involving them in not only helicopters’ production and through-life sustainment, but also offering real access to the manufacturer’s international supply chain.
A successful OEM must have secured a vast support network throughout the country’s Voivodeships and shall have engaged the still powerful Unions in constructive dialogues. Universities can play an important role, as their engagement would help “discharging” the contractual obligations, offering at the same time access to highly qualified research centers already extensively involved in advanced research activities at European level.
Even this will not be enough though: geo-political aspects will be the essence of the decision. Poland will arguably expect that its role as one of NATO’s eastern outposts and EU’s border watch keepers will determine benevolence and extraordinary concessions from the winning manufacturer’s Government. A Nation-wide coordinated effort is therefore required in order to align all the industrial, financial, political and military drivers.
In other words, winning contracts of such a magnitude in Poland (and elsewhere as well, albeit the strategy will differ on a case-by-case and country-by-country basis) requires much more that “simply” having the right product, at the right price, and the manufacturer enjoying credibility for consistent deliveries on time and on quality.
What an interesting race!