- WIADOMOŚCI
The Netherlands is interested in Polish portable anti-aircraft systems
The Armament Agency (Agencja Uzbrojenia) has signed the first executive agreement to the framework agreement for the delivery of Polish Piorun Man-Portable Air-Defence Systems (MANPADS) with funding under the SAFE programme. On this occasion, it was announced that alongside Lithuania, Latvia, and Norway, other nations, including the Netherlands, may join the procurement.
The Armament Agency has not disclosed the exact number of missiles ordered. However, it is known that the order covers several thousand missiles and launching mechanisms for Piorun MANPADS between 2026 and 2030. The contract, concluded under the joint procurement procedure of the SAFE instrument, also includes the delivery of a training and logistics package.
Further executive agreements on behalf of partner nations—namely the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Lithuania, and the Republic of Latvia—will be concluded by the Armament Agency until the provisions of the framework agreement are exhausted. Additionally, the accession of further countries, including the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is currently being processed. The agreement just concluded is the first executive agreement under the SAFE programme, within the joint procurement procedure, to be signed by the Armament Agency. At the time the framework agreement was signed, it was reported that the total maximum value of the contract is approximately 8 billion zloty (approx. $2 billion / €1.85 billion).
Piorun is a man-portable air-defence system of the MANPADS class, introduced into the Polish Armed Forces in 2018 (and used successfully in combat in Ukraine since 2022). It is designed to counter combat aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, and various unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at ranges from 400 m to over 6.5 km and at altitudes from 10 m to approximately 4 km, including in jamming conditions. Piorun missiles can be shoulder-fired or launched from air-defence systems such as Pilica, Poprad, or Kusza. The system is manufactured by Mesko, based in Skarżysko-Kamienna (in cooperation with partners including CRW Telesystem-Mesko, which is responsible for the guidance system), and was developed as part of a research and development project carried out by Mesko (lead), CRW Telesystem-Mesko, and the Military University of Technology (Wojskowa Akademia Techniczna), drawing on the experience gained from the construction of the Grom system.
