Poland Chooses Mi-8/17 Replacement
Poland’s Minister of Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak, has recently announced a decision to procure 22 heavy-lift helicopters that will replace the aging Mi-8/17 fleet. The Polish Ministry of Defense has selected the AW-101 from Augusta-Westland and has “sent an invitation to negotiations” for the aircraft bypassing the tender process.
The Mi-8 and Mi-17 have been utilized as utility helicopters among the 25th Air Cavalry Brigade and the Special Operations Aviation Unit, formerly known as the 7th Special Operations Squadron. The platform’s versatility and capacity of delivering large chalks of troops made it difficult to find an aircraft of similar characteristics on the European market. Some local commentators speculated over CH-47 Chinook procurement, as Poland strengthened its relationship with the US manufacturers.
Mariusz Blaszczak announced Poland is seeking to obtain 22 AW-101 helicopters in the utility/transport variant on the 10 August. This information was provided as the first AW101 ASWs were delivered to the Polish Navy.
The decision to procure AW101 without official tender may be the result of the urgent reinforcement program of the Polish Armed Forces due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The AW101 will be the second type of utility helicopter manufactured by Leonardo, along with recently ordered yet smaller AW149s.
The AW101 order means additional production of components for the PZL Świdnik factory, which aided the work of the Augusta-Westland plant in Yeoville, United Kingdom. More details on the price, options, and variants are expected to be published with the official announcement of the contract signing in the future.
Cover picture: AW149 and AW101 during the rehearsal for the Armed Forces Day parade in Warsaw. Courtesy of Armed Forces General Command (Poland)