The 25th Air Cavalry Brigade (25 BKPow) has received the first AW-149 multirole helicopter from the Polish production line. As Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced, the first 10 aircraft under the contract concluded in 2022 were manufactured in Italy, while the remaining 22 will be produced at PZL-Świdnik.
On Thursday, at the military airfield in Nowy Glinnik near Tomaszów Mazowiecki (Łódzkie Voivodeship), Kosiniak-Kamysz took part in the ceremony of handing over to the unit of the 25th Air Cavalry Brigade stationed there an AW-149 helicopter from the Polish production line. The aircraft was built entirely at PZL-Świdnik, which is part of the Italian Leonardo group.
Kosiniak-Kamysz said that “the AW149 is a very good multirole helicopter which, in cooperation with our allies from Italy, is being produced in Poland. The first 10 helicopters out of the contracted 32 came to us from Italy, but the remaining 22 – including this eleventh one already in service with the Polish Armed Forces – will be produced in Poland”.
The contract, worth PLN 8.25 billion gross, for the delivery of 32 AW-149 multirole helicopters for the Polish Armed Forces, was signed on 1 July 2022. A significant element of the agreement was the establishment and launch of a production line at PZL-Świdnik.
The head of PZL-Świdnik, Bartosz Śliwa, reported that the first helicopter was delivered to the 25th Air Cavalry Brigade 15 months after the contract was signed, and full production capability was achieved at the Polish facility after 20 months. So far, 11 AW-149 helicopters have been handed over to Nowy Glinnik. The aircraft can operate both day and night and are suited for a wide range of missions.