Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1488818
ments to Africa or Afghanistan. France, for instance, has been broadly using new-generation helicopters in those the- atres. Meanwhile, the aforesaid helicop- ter designs made broad use of composi- tes. Even far from the bases, logistics, and service facilities, the said helicopter fleets have exhibited high levels of ava- ilability. The exchange of relevant expe- riences within that scope has been used when the AW149 was being designed. One should expect that these experien- ces would have an impact on future de- velopments as well. Most definitely, Poland may remain an im- portant market for AW149. Procurement of 32 helicopters, the first of which is to be delivered next year, should not put a stop to the modernization and expansion of the capabilities the Polish air domain assets offer. One should remember that quantitative and structural expansion of the Polish Armed Forces is a prospect on the table. This would surely result in further helicopter orders. Declaration on procurement of up to 96 Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardians is a good example here. Replacement of the Polish Mil he- licopters would soon become a burning necessity, also due to the geopolitical context unfolding in the region, making it impossible to source spares for the Mi-8/17 family, still being an important component of the Polish Army Aviation potential. The Leonardo Helicopters PZL- -Świdnik facility may offer the AW101 platform to replace the Mi-8/17s, or the AW139, to replace the Mi-2s. This also paves the way towards speculation, that 32 AW149 may just mark the beginning of this programme in Poland, given the fact that a manufacturing facility would be located in Świdnik, while the flight test programme capacity of the Polish plant would be expanded, to cover the new platform. PZL-Świdnik's capacity is expansive, which is proven by declara- tions that had made been earlier, on the launch of two manufacturing lines, for a multi-role platform (AW139 back then), and attack helicopter (for the Kruk pro- gramme, following the letter of intent si- gned with the Polish MoD). One should not be ruling out a scenario in which the AW149, despite its military roots, beco- mes an interesting alternative for other Polish uniformed services who, sooner or later, would be launching their helicop- AVIATION