According to the Inspectorate's press release, a public procurement procedure was started. Next, negotiations with the bidders are planned, and finally submission of the final offers would be requested.
The aircraft to be acquired are defined as “small”. They shall be capable of transporting 12-14 passengers. Their continental range is not to be smaller than 5 000 km. The agreement is also to cover the initial logistics bundle and training programme for the crews and the ground crews.
The Armament Inspectorate claims that selecting the supplier and signing the agreement is to take place this year. Getting second-hand aircraft is also being considered as a viable option here. The deliveries are going to be realized in 2016.
Polish Minister of Defence, Tomasz Siemoniak said, in April this year, that the VIP jets agreement is to be signed by the end of 2015. The acquisition of these is a part of the national security plan adopted in 2014. Currently, the VIP transport is realized by the LOT Polish Airlines chartered Embraer 175 jets. The chartering agreement was signed back in 2013 and its term is 3 years, for the period between 2014 and 2017. The Armament Inspectorate stresses the fact that acquisition of the small aircraft is to “complement the current VIP transport system”.