Industry
Polish MoD Accelerates Rocket Artillery Procurement
Further contracts regarding the WR-40 Langusta MLRS systems, that would be procured at HSW S.A. is planned this year - this cryptic message has been included by Wojciech Skurkiewicz, Secretary of State at the Polish MoD, responding to a parliamentary inquiry made by MP Paweł Bejda, regarding the information shared by Gen. Cezary Janowski during the meeting of the Parliamentary National Defence Commission on 12th January 2022. Janowski is the head of the Planning Management for Use and Training of the Armed Forces - P3/P7. He presented the procurement of the Turkish-made MBLR systems as the replacement for the WR-40 Langusta assets.
General Janowski included numerous and very controversial pieces of information in his presentation. One of those pieces was the replacement of the 122 mm WR-40 Langusta launchers, with the Roketsan MBRL system (Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher).
The issue evoked some interest and concern, especially when it comes to the matter of the future of the WR-40 Langusta system, and the Langusta 2 developmental variant. The subject matter in question was mentioned in the parliamentary question asked by MP Paweł Bejda who asked the following questions to the Polish Ministry of Defence, on 19th January 2023:
- When will your Ministry order the Langusta rocket launchers at HSW, following up on the declarations you've made last year?
- Is it true that instead of procuring the HSW Langusta systems, the Ministry would rather acquire launchers from Turkey?
- Please clarify what would happen to the whole production line of the Langusta launchers, and the HSW employees who may face the prospect of losing their jobs, after the Turkish launchers are procured?
The response was submitted at the Parliament on 24th February 2023, and it is signed by the Secretary of State at the Polish MoD, Wojciech Skurkiewicz. Unfortunately, that response remains cryptic and lacks detail.
Responding on behalf of the head of the Polish Ministry of Defence, to parliamentary inquiry no. 38447 submitted by MP Paweł Bejda, on the acquisition of Turkish rocket launchers instead of the Polish Langusta launchers manufactured at HSW, I would like to inform that procurement of further WR-40 Langusta systems at HSW S.A. is planned to happen this year.
Wojciech Skurkiewicz, Secretary of State at the Polish MoD
The above confirms the declaration made by the head of the Polish MoD, Mariusz Błaszczak who, back in July 2022, announced the acquisition of the Polish WR-40 Langusta systems, which were to be acquired alongside foreign rocket artillery systems. The officials mentioned above did not specify the timelines or scales for the orders.
The WR-40 Langusta MLRS is a Polish variant of the BM-21 Grad system on a Jelcz platform, with the WB Topaz fire control solution embedded. The system utilizes new types of Polish rockets, with extended ranges and higher lethality. HSW has also been working on a further modification of the system, under the WR-40 Langusta 2 designation. The changes include chassis of extended length that also can accommodate extra rockets for quick loading.
Skurkiewicz's reply does not specify the variant of the Langusta launcher that would be procured, it also does not mention the timeline, apart from the fact that it is to happen in 2023. It is also quite interesting how the further Langusta procurement aligns with the plans to acquire more than 200 Korean Chunmoo systems, and 500 US-made HIMARS.