Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1308154
2. Is Leonardo planning to offer the AW101 helicopters in any of the future Polish military's helicopter acquisition programs? Here we are referring to the replacement of the Mi-8/17 family or the successor of the W-3 Głuszec CSAR platform? Yes, we believe that AW101 could be an effective solution for both maritime and land mission requirements. Expanding the fleet wo- uld result in economies of scale, and would allow to fully exploit the capabilities to be established in Poland according to the offset requirement 3. Is the very specific CSAR/ASW configuration of the Polish Navy's AW101 platform known already? Is Leonardo still claiming that a single helicopter can be quickly reconfigured for both missions? Is information available, when it comes to the quantity of the ASW and CSAR/SAR "mission equipment kits" procured for the 4 AW101 platforms acquired by Poland? Configurations is known and fully compliant to Polish MoD require- ments. However, contract is classified, so we cannot answer about the details. Kruk Program 1. Poland is planning to acquire new attack helicopters that are expected to replace the Mi-24 platform. What would be Leonardo's offer for the Polish industry, should Poland decide to enter the AW-249 development program within the framework of the Kruk program? Leonardo's proposal is to certain extent similar to the new Polish multipurpose helicopter based on AW139. Leonardo proposes to join the project of a new combat helicopter, currently developed under supervision of Italian MoD. Starting in 2025 Italy is to begin replacement of the Italian AW129 Mangusta with totally new and state of the art helicopter AW249. The earlier Poland joins this project, the more impact it will have an on the entire project and thus the greater economic and financial benefits. The new combat helicopter (Polish variant) would be produced in PZL-Świdnik and the Polish defense industry will benefit of this because combat helicopters are the most technologically advanced machines, so the transfer of technology and know-how cannot be overestima- ted. The new Polish helicopter variant may be exported as a local product, including G2G schemes through the Polish Government – similarly as Polish AW139 helicopters. Two production lines (for two different types of helicopters) in PZL- Świdnik is unique offer without precedent. In short, the program is as follows: design, development, customi- zation, testing, production, assembly, support, training and export. Participation in this project would allow Poland to remain at the forefront of rotorcraft technologies and to be a first-league player also due to the complexity of the combat helicopter. Choosing a re- ady-made solution would mean that the entire budget will be spent on the purchase of already existing resources. On the other hand, investing in industrial cooperation to develop a new Polish combat helicopter would allow for long-term benefits for the national eco- nomy, employment opportunities, obtaining know-how and then exporting the Polish variant of the helicopter. This would ensure greater national security and sovereignty, also in terms of intellec- tual property. It would provide an easy bridge to further technology development and would make Poland one of the major players in Europe and within NATO as a potential partner for new programs in the future. 2. Can Leonardo, at the present stage, disclose the avionics and armament set up of the new aircraft? Will the sensor suite, for in- stance, include a radar complementing the optoelectronic systems, or will it include communication systems allowing for direct joint operations involving UAVs/allowing the crew to control UAV plat- forms? It will feature a comprehensive sensor suite for navigation, mission and targeting and Manned-Unmanned Teaming Capability is envi- saged as part of the AW249 capabilities. The AW249 will be fully embedded in a network centric environ- ment with excellent performance. Its modern design allows for significant growth potential and support throughout its life cycle. Thanks to the modern design, the AW249 is extremely competitive in terms of maintenance efficiency and operating costs, through advanced digital diagnostics and forecasting, it is characterized by a reduced number of components, easy access to all major critical systems, high availability, long time between component overhauls, open architecture for future upgrades, giving you fast, risk-free growth potential with possible upgrades and modifications that significantly reduce costs. The next-generation AW249 combat helicopter proposed by Leonardo will remain in service for the next 30-40 years and will INTERVIEW