PGZ And Raytheon Companies Expand The Scope Of Their Cooperation. Not only Wisła - Also Maritime Programmes And MLU For The F-16

The letter of intent was signed at the Radom headquarters of the Polish Armament Group, represented by the President of the Company, Wojciech Dąbrowski himself. Dan Crowley, President of the Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, signed the document on behalf of the Rayethon company.

The listed areas of cooperation included the air-defence and anti-missile systems (above all, the medium range “Wisła” system), modernization of the Navy and of the Land Forces, works on specialized simulation and training equipment, option of developing and modernizing the US-made F-16 fighters and, finally, the issues related to cyber-security.

The main topic area is the air-defence, however we are also interested in the Navy modernization programme. We know that Poland is planning to construct three coastal and three seagoing vessels.Rayethon has collected a lot of experience in integrating systems and components such as radars, sensors or navigational systems in the maritime area.Thus we are going to act as a partner for PGZ within that field. (...) We are also planning to expand our cooperation with the Mesko company, the main ammunition supplier, e.g. within the scope of the Excalibur guided artillery rounds.Another important field is the cyber-security. (...) We are also considering eventual modernization of the Polish F-16 fighters, within so called Mid-Life Update.Other plans include establishing certification centres in Poland.

Besides close cooperation within the Polish Market and cooperation with the Polish Ministry of Defence, the Parties also stated that they would jointly look for export potential in the third countries. Firstly, the above means that the PGZ companies would be included in the international supply and maintenance chain managed by the Rayethon company, both through manufacturing of the selected components of the US-offered systems, as well as through establishing a new certification centre, within the territory of Poland.

I treat the today’s event and the signed letter of intent as a prospect of good and fruitful cooperation between the Rayethon and PGZ companies, also within the offset framework related to the “Wisła” programme.PGZ stands a chance of gaining new qualifications, and expanding its offer with new, innovative products.

Not only is the PGZ field of prospective competences a novelty, we may also note that the scope of interest of the Raytheon company is also expanded, since the US-based corporation, so far, was focused on the field of air-defence in Poland. Meanwhile, the letter of intent and the declarations made by the representatives of the company are much more significant.  For example, the interests cover the area of constructing new vessels for the Polish Navy – and this area is being dealt with by the PGZ. Rayethon has a rich offer of naval systems at its disposal, starting from optical sensors, radars or battlefield management systems, finishing with RAM (Rolling Airframe Missile) or Sea Sparrow weapons systems. Dan Crowley, during his interview for Defence24, also mentioned the future maritime systems, such as directed-energy weapons (e.g. based on lasers), which constitute the prospective field for development of the air defence systems utilized by the naval vessels. 

Another important issue is the MLU programme planned for the Polish F-16 jets. The potential solutions that may be implemented here include the RACR AESA radar and other, modernized avionics – all of which would be delivered by the Raytheon company. Possible fields for cooperation between Raytheon and PGZ include numerous areas of the defence industry. However, the most relevant factors within the above scope would include readiness of the US-based company to execute a technology transfer and ability of the Polish company to absorb the newly acquired know-how in a way which would economically justify the activities described by the Parties.