PLN 128 Million - Cost Of The Ukrainian Missiles For The Polish MiG-29 Jets. WB Electronics Acting As The Contractor

According to the information released by the WB Electronics company, the invitation to sign the agreement was sent by the Inspectorate on 15th July this year. However, the exact date on which the Agreement is expected to be signed has not yet been disclosed. The tender announcement states that the deliveries shall be finalized before 30th November 2016. The Polish company is, within the framework of the tender, cooperating with the Ukrainian State Enterprise for Foreign Trade “Spetstechnoexport”, based in Kiev. The Ukrainian company offers the missiles manufactured by Artem. The Ukrainian weapons manufacturer in question is also carrying out its business activities within the territory of Ukraine.

The Armament Inspectorate has finalized a tender announced in October 2015 in June this year. The tender is related to procurement of the radar-guided R-27R1 air-to-air missiles, used by the Polish Air Force as the armament of the Polish MIG-29 fighters.

The R-27R1 missile is a semi-active radar guided medium range weapon, used to act against airborne targets at small and medium distances, regardless of the weather conditions, at night and during the day. The missile requires the fighter to be locked onto the target throughout the missile’s flight. The range, dependent, to a large extent, on conditions of use and the dynamic profile of the target, is defined as ca. 60 kilometres. Each of the MiG-29 single-seaters may carry two missiles of this kind.

READ MORE: Polish Air Force Acquires Missiles For The MiG-29. “Ukrainian Contractors May Place Their Offers”

Procurement of the medium range missiles means that Poland is willing to maintain full scope of capabilities of the MiG-29 jet fighters. The acquisition mentioned here is quantitatively limited, since only 40 missiles are expected to be purchased. This stems from the fact that R-27 weapon is rarely used. During the “Air Policing” operations, which are the main task realized by the Polish MiG-29M jets, the Air Force equips the jets solely the R-60MK, or the R-73E missiles – with the latter weapon being a bit more modern.

During the NATO Summit in Warsaw, a Protocol has been signed between the Polish government and the Ukrainian Ministries, regarding the issue of amendments which are to be made to the memorandum signed between the Polish Government and its Ukrainian counterpart, pertaining to the mutual armament procurements and rendering of military technology-related services. The goal of the agreement is to expand the industrial collaboration between the nations. R-27 missiles tender has been announced back in October 2015.