HSW Celebrates its Anniversary in Stalowa Wola

The meeting with the Head of the MoD, the most important customer of the HSW S.A. facility, inaugurated the event that lasted all day long. During the meeting Błaszczak presented around 40 employees with Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals of Merit for National Defence, following decision no. 1232 issued by the Minister of Defence on 7th May. The Minister also presented the employees with several congratulatory letters. Head of the MoD, PGZ President Jakub Skiba and the persons who accompanied the officials, representing regional and parliamentary authorities, got acquainted with the HSW S.A.’s production facility.

Nowadays, HSW is primarily a company that manufactures great products for the Polish military. These products enjoy the best opinions of the Polish soldiers, commanders of the Polish military, these are the products that are a source of pride for us when speaking to foreigners, as HSW is seen as a reputable brand associated with high quality.

Błaszczak confirmed that HSW S.A. would be involved in the Wisła programme. He also referred to the benefits the company may gain following the relevant offset agreement. Mariusz Błaszczak got acquainted with progress of the R&D initiative related to the Borsuk IFV as well. The official decided to get a closer look at the Rak programme upgrades - HSW created an upgrade package for this platform that raises the rate of fire up to 12 rounds per minute.

HSW is probably the best facility among the PGZ Group companies. Any contracts assigned to this entity are being executed in a proper manner.

The afternoon picnic event was an important part of the anniversary event, at least for the citizens of the region and their families. The event was held in the area close to the HSW HQ. Alongside the entertainment programme and numerous highlights, the hosts have also prepared an impressive display of the products that are currently manufactured or researched by the company.

The display featured primarily the Krab SPH (that is being currently delivered to the Polish military), Rak self-propelled mortar, Langusta II rocket launcher and the Baobab scattered minelaying system. ZSSW-30 remote controlled turret module and new Borsuk amphibious IFV were another highlights of the display. In case of the former product, HSW declared that it would enter series manufacturing starting from 2019. Unfortunately, wheeled Kryl self-propelled howitzer was not present on site. This, most probably, is related to the fact that the platform is currently undergoing chassis upgrades and modifications at Jelcz. A separate display of equipment “made by HSW” and used by the military was organized by the 16th “Tczewski” Sapper Battalion, showcasing its engineering equipment, UMI 9.50 and SL-34C systems.

Stalowa Wola was also hosting the guests and speakers of a 2-days long international scientific conference - “Central Industrial District (Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy - COP) - A Potential of Development and Innovation in Special Purpose Designs and Technologies”. The conference preceded the anniversary event. The conference was supported by the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Science and Higher Education and Ministry of Investment and Development, at the auditory of the Faculty of Mechanics and Technology of the Rzeszów University of Technology in Stalowa Wola. The event has been yet another stage of cooperation undertaken by 5 Polish state universities within the framework of “Central Industrial District – Heritage and Defence” consortium. The main goal of the conference was to showcase the research offer and potential that could be accessed by the industry. The participants also exchanged their experience, views and knowledge between the universities and companies, for the sake of tightening the cooperation with the PGZ Group and its subsidiaries. The participants of the conference, with Polish, Slovak and Serbian researchers chairing the scientific committee, had a chance to visit the HSW S.A. facility on the second day of the event.

Jerzy Reszczyński