Polish Army Acquires 6 Thousand Pluton-1 Mortar Rounds

The Armament Inspectorate has announced that Dezamet S.A. company has been selected as the supplier of the 60 mm Pluton-1 mortar rounds with a fragmentation charge. The selection has been made through a so called single source procurement procedure. This decision, made by the Armament Inspectorate, is justified by the fact that Pluton-1 round has been already acquired for the Polish Army in the past, via a research and development project, while Dezamet, along with the Military Institute of Armament Technology implemented the new technology in the Army. Thus “deliveries need to be carried out by the original Contractor for reasons of technical nature, since the LM-60D 60 mm mortar used by the Polish Armed Forces has a specific and unique tolerance defined, within the scope of the barrel diameter – 60 mm+0,08 mm.This would mean that acquisition of rounds other than the ones already used by the Polish Army would lead to a situation in which the said products would be completely incompatible with the LM-60D mortar used by the Polish Armed Forces”.

Following the criteria mentioned above, the Armament Inspectorate has restarted the procurement procedure informing the former contractor: Dezamet company based in Nowa Dęba. The last contract concerning the acquisition of the Pluton-1 rounds was concluded back in 2015.

According to the information released, the Polish Army is going to acquire, within the period between 2017 and 2020, 6 thousand Pluton-1 fragmentation mortar rounds. Unfortunately, the announcement has been published with voluntary ex ante transparency, which means that talks regarding the value of the concluded contract are in progress at the moment.

LM-60D is a light Polish mortar, designed in the late 1990s at the Research and Development Centre for Mechanical Equipment in Tarnów. The weapon is being manufactured by the ZM Tarnów facility at the moment. Its purpose is to act against enemy infantry and weapons located at counterslopes, in canyons and behind obstacles, such as high buildings. The weapon may also be used to neutralize observation and command points and light field fortifications, at night and during the day, in any weather conditions.  According to the specification, the weapon may be used at distances from 70 to 2350 meters, with theoretical rate of fire of up to 25 rounds per minute. LM-60D is a typical weapon used by the infantry elements, also by the highland infantry, air-mobile units, paratroopers, airborne elements and special forces.