Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1517379
Hand-off of the first out of three Navy Leonardo AW101s happened on December 8th, 2023, at the 44th Naval Aviation Base in Darłowo. These aircraft were procured for the Polish Navy's Aviation Brigade. According to the user's statement, the process was to be finalized by December 18th. However, no public statement has been released so far that would con- firm the completion of the whole process. The event above can be viewed as a major milestone in modernization of the Polish naval aviation. Based on a con- tract signed by and between the Leonardo-owned WSK PZL Świdnik S.A. facility, and the Armament Inspectorate (Polish MoD's procurement body, now transformed into Armament Agency) on April 26th, 2019, the Polish Navy is to receive 4 helicopters as such. The Ordering Party procured the he- licopters in ASW configuration, along with a CSAR module. Details have not been disclosed. The technical test flight of the first helicopter took place in July 2021, while the certifi- cation program involved 700 flight hours in total. Within the framework of the offset agreements, WZL Nr 1 S.A. facility from Łódź, and Gdansk University of Technology have beco- me the beneficiaries. The first example of the helicopter was sent to Poland in August last year, with the last one arriving in Świdnik on December 28th. After a series of inspections, it would be then delivered to Darłowo. The introduction of the AW101 in the Polish Navy paves the way towards the gradual decommissioning of the obsolete Mil Mi-14PŁ, and Mi-14PŁ/R helicopters. One cannot rule out that positive results of test flights and the first impressions would lead to the procurement of more AW101s, expected to be based in Darłowo. The current fleet of four is insufficient to replace the legacy helicopters. AVIATION