Industry
PGZ And Leonardo Expand Their Helicopter Cooperation
Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) and the Leonardo company have signed a cooperation agreement, covering the domain of the helicopter programmes, tied to the modernization plans pursued by the Polish Armed Forces.
The Agreement provides that collaboration established between the Polish Armaments Group and Leonardo, within the framework of potential procurement of the AW149, AW101 and W-3PL Głuszec helicopters, offered by the Italian company for the Polish MoD, would be greatly expanded.
The terms of the agreement assume that, should the Polish authorities select Leonardo as the contractor within the framework of the helicopter procurement procedure currently pursued by the Armament Inspectorate of the Polish MoD, the entities belonging to the PGZ would be involved in the process of manufacturing and servicing the helicopters acquired. This would also translate into expansion of the industrial competencies established within the PGZ companies, when it comes to maintenance and manufacturing of elements, systems or other components of the selected helicopter.
The memorandum signed on Thursday, 2nd March, in Rome, can be viewed as a continuation and further expansion of the PGZ-Leonardo collaboration which had begun back in 2015. PGZ’s President of the Board, Błażej Wojnicz, stressed the fact that the aforesaid agreement paves the way for the domestic industry, towards a “prospect of a significant transfer of technology”.
The agreement translates into tightening of the Polish-Italian relations. This paves the way for the Polish defence industry, towards a prospect of a significant transfer of technology, and provides the sector with a chance to be relevantly involved in implementation of the helicopter programmes pursued by the Polish Armed Forces. I am convinced that this is yet another step taken on our way towards long-term, and mutually beneficial collaboration.
On the other hand, as Mauro Moretti, Leonardo’s President and General Director, emphasized, within the framework of the prospective collaboration, Polish defence industry, also including the PZL Świdnik facility which is a part of the Leonardo Group, would obtain numerous advantages through getting involved in a programme of delivering another military helicopter, with the said programme assuming that “a technology transfer would be provided, along with creation of jobs for the highly qualified [personnel], domestically”. What is more, the cooperation also assumes that services related to “lifecycle management of the product” would also be provided.
Among the companies that could potentially get involved in the programme the following entities have been listed: Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze Nr 1 (Military Aviation Works No. 1) based in Łódź, Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze Nr 2 (Military Aviation Works No. 2) based in Bydgoszcz, Wytwórnia Sprzętu Komunikacyjnego “PZL Kalisz” (PZL Kalisz Means of Transport Manufacturing Facility), PCO S.A. company, as well as PIT-Radwar, ZM Tarnów, Mesko, or WCBKT S.A. - Central Military Bureau of Design and Technology.