AW101
Poland has launched negotiations to order 22 Leonardo AW101 battlefield helicopters, confirming statements made by air force officials in May.
The Polish defense ministry’s Armaments Agency said late Aug. 10 that it had begun negotiations with Leonardo Helicopters’ Polish affiliate, PZL Swidnik, to acquire the aircraft.
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said the order was “good news” for the country’s Aeromobile troops and that the rotorcraft would replace “post-Soviet technology.”
The pronouncements come just two days after the Polish Navy took delivery of the first of four AW101s for the anti-submarine warfare and search-and-rescue mission.
Such an order would be a significant boost for the AW101 production line based in Yeovil, England, especially as the three-engine aircraft has struggled to find new orders in recent years.
The AW101 program was recently bolstered by Canada’s plan to upgrade its CH-149 Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopter fleet, as well as acquire three more airframes.
It is unclear whether PZL-Swidnik would perform final assembly or if this would be done in the UK. But it seems that the latter is more likely, as PZL-Swidnik’s will probably be at full capacity building 32 Leonardo AW149 battlefield utility helicopters that were ordered by Warsaw last year.
Leonardo Helicopters did not respond to Aerospace DAILY for comment by press time.
The contract’s value is estimated at around €2 billion ($2.2 billion). By comparison, Norway paid €1.15 billion for its 16 SAR-equipped AW101s in 2013.
It is unclear whether Poland undertook a market examination of battlefield support helicopters, but Polish air force officials revealed they had selected the platform in May.
The procurement is part of a broader modernization of the country’s rotary-wing fleet, with the aim of ridding the military of its Soviet-era Mil Mi-8/17 transport helicopters.
With plans to order 22 AW101s included, Poland is now set to acquire around 170 Western helicopters in the next few years. They include 96 Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, the aforementioned AW149s and an undisclosed number of Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawks to be purchased from Sikorsky’s Poland-based business PZL-Mielec.
