EU to Spend Hundreds of Millions on Missiles and Munitions. No Polish Piorun MANPADS for Now?

The European Commission revealed that five projects qualified for the first phase of the program aimed at strengthening the European defence industry through joint procurement (European Defence Industry Reinforcement Through Common Procurement Act, EDIRPA). Each project has received €60 million in funding, totaling €300 million.

The funded projects include:

• Mistral: For very short-range air defence area. This program involves the procurement of the Mistral missile system and was submitted by nine countries: France (the producer), Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Spain, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, and Denmark.
• Jamie: For medium-range air defense (classified as short-range in Polish terms). This program pertains to the procurement of IRIS-T SLM systems with a range of about 40 km by Germany (the producer), Slovenia, Bulgaria, Austria, Estonia, and Latvia.
• CAVS: For combat vehicles, focusing on the procurement of 6x6 Patria CAVS vehicles by Finland (the producer), Germany, Sweden, and Latvia.
• CPoA: For joint procurement of 155 mm ammunition. This program involves the acquisition of various types of ammunition to strengthen the industrial base. Participants include the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Croatia, and Denmark. This is the only program in which Poland, represented by the Armament Agency, received funding.
• HE 155: Another project concerning 155 mm ammunition, focusing on high-explosive rounds.

The total value of all these programs amounts to €11 billion, with EU funding covering just about 3%. While the exact values of individual programs were not disclosed by the commission, the EU support will help enhance production capacity, equipment stockpiles, and development efforts to improve existing weapons.

Among the five projects approved by the European Commission, the procurement of Poland’s Piorun portable anti-aircraft missile systems was not included, despite a joint proposal with Lithuania, Latvia, and Norway competing against the Mistral program. Today, Deputy Defence Minister Paweł Bejda announced the signing of a letter of intent regarding the joint procurement of Piorun systems at Mesko plants.

The European Commission stated that aside from selected projects, other “interesting proposals” were placed on a “reserve list”, meaning they could receive future funding. For instance, member states involved in these proposals could seek financial support through the reallocation of unused EU funds or other mechanisms. Defence24.pl has requested clarification from the European Commission on whether the Piorun program is on the reserve list. If it is, future purchases of Polish portable systems may be eligible for funding redirected from other programs (or allocated in a different manner).

It’s worth noting that the EDIRPA program is the first in history to co-finance weapons procurement (as opposed to research or development) from the EU budget. The proposal for such regulations was submitted by the European Commission in July 2022, with the relevant regulations adopted in October 2023 by the European Parliament and Council, and the implementation decision issued on March 15, 2024. Five out of twelve submitted projects were approved for the first round of funding.

Piorun is Polish-made MANPADS developed by Mesko, jointly with the CRW Telesystem-Mesko entity (responsible for the seeker), within the framework of an R&D project. The Piorun systems can neutralize threats at a distance ranging from 400 meters to 6.5 kilometres, flying at an altitude from 10 meters, to 4,000 meters, also when artificial or natural interference or countermeasures remain present. Piorun has seen successful combat use in Ukraine, shooting down aircraft like Su-34 and Su-25, modern combat helicopters like the Ka-52, cruise missiles, and drones. Besides Poland and Ukraine, the Piorun has been purchased by Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Norway, the USA, and at least one Balkan country. Slovakia has also selected it for intergovernmental procurement.