According to the recommendation made by the MoD’s Secretary of State, accepted by Siemoniak, medium range UAV systems will be delivered by the domestic companies. The procurement procedure is going to be realized in a competitive mode, as it was declared by the spokesman for the Polish Ministry of Defence, col. Jacek Sońta.
The negotiations are going to involve the Polish companies considered to have special significance in the economic and defensive dimensions. The agreement is going to be signed during the second half of 2016.
Sońta noted that both the tactical systems of medium range, acquired within the framework of the Gryf programme, as well as the MALE UAV systems which are going to be procured in the Zefir programme, are going to be capable of executing reconnaissance and air-to-ground attacks. The decision pertaining acquisition of the “Zefir” MALE UAV systems is going to be taken once the availability of said systems is assessed, as a result of intergovernmental negotiations programme – as it was stated by Sońta.
WB Electronics group signed an agreement with the Thales company back in July. The document covers development of a Polish tactical medium range unmanned system, on the basis of “experience” and “some technologies” related to the Watchkeeper 450 system.