Industry
Polish Helicopter Tender – The candidates
During the MSPO 22nd International Defence Industry Exhibition presentation of helicopters which are to take part in a tender selecting the new multi-purpose chopper for the Polish Armed Forces is to take place.The helicopters are Agusta Westland AW-149, Airbus Helicopters EC-725 Caracal and Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk. In case of the latter design, the visitors may also have a look at US Army helicopter, which was deployed to Poland along with the US Army units in a response to the Ukraine Crisis.
During the Kielce MSPO fair all three helicopters that are considered to be the new Polish multi-role chopper have been presented. The tender aim is to purchase 70 examples of the selected helicopter. The following models are taken into consideration: Airbus Helicopters EC-725 Caracal, AgustaWestland AW-149 i Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk.
Caracal is presented at Airbus Helicopters booth along with Tiger assault chopper. AW-149, which is offered by przez PZL Świdnik is present at a shared booth of AgustaWestland and PZL Świdnik companies. The expo additionally features two Black Hawk choppers, one comes from the factory in Mielec, and another one from the US Army units present in Poland due to the situation in Ukraine.
It is worth to remind ourselves that the tender results are to be announced later this year and the agreement is to be signed in the early 2015. Polish Ministry of National Defence is to acquire 70 examples in several versions, including multi-purpose, transport, CSAR and ASW variants.