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The first Polish F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has just rolled out, but Warsaw is looking at what comes next.
Poland’s defense acquisition efforts are starting to resemble a well-run, high-volume production line. Once a deal is done, another is in the works.
Whether in fighters, air defenses or other equipment, Warsaw’s military modernization push keeps on humming. Underpinned by one of Europe’s biggest military budget allocations, the country also is trying to build up its sovereign defense capabilities and looking to translate significant order volume into domestic maintenance and production capacities, as evidenced at this month’s MSPO international defense industry exhibition.
- Warsaw’s next fighter buy is in focus after Lockheed Martin F-35 rollout
- Helicopter-makers eye Polish training rotorcraft procurement
Illustrating an unrelenting push to expand defense capacities, Warsaw is expected to decide on its next combat aircraft purchase early in the new year. That would come about five months after the Aug. 28 rollout of the first of 32 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters Poland agreed to buy in 2020. The aircraft are due to arrive in the country in 2026.
Poland’s next competition also involves 32 fighters. Boeing is bidding the F-15EX, hoping to build on its success in Israel and Indonesia. The company could deliver the first F-15EX to Poland in late 2029 or early 2030, given the current backlog, says Marissa Myers, Boeing’s head of fighter business development. The twin-engine fighter would integrate easily with Poland’s F-35, she says, giving the country a mixed fleet to provide greater lethality.
Leonardo, which is leading the Polish campaign for the Eurofighter Typhoon consortium, argues that its aircraft’s combination with the MBDA Meteor ramjet-powered beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile would better complement the F-35. The consortium would be able to deliver the first Typhoon to Poland 2-3 years after contract signing, says Costantino Panvini Rosati, Leonardo’s vice president of strategic fighter campaigns. Lockheed Martin meanwhile asserts that Poland should not bother fielding a new aircraft type and instead should buy more F-35s.
The pace of deals also is unrelenting in rotorcraft. Poland agreed in August to buy 96 Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, the largest export order for the system. But industry is already gearing up for the next round of rotorcraft competitions as Poland looks to modernize its heavy-lift and training fleets.
Leonardo, which has already sold AW149s to Poland, is in the running for the training helicopter award with the AW109. Airbus is competing with the AH145, building on the type’s success elsewhere in the region, including in Serbia and Hungary. The exact size of the program is still unclear, but it could involve the purchase of some 24 helicopters.
The rotorcraft situation also demonstrates that Polish defense purchases are not immune from local politics. The change in government following Donald Tusk’s election as prime minister has slowed some decision-making, industry officials say, as prior decisions are under review.
Boeing formally declared at MSPO its plan to bid the CH-47 as a heavy-lift option to the Polish Armed Forces. Talks are still in an early stage, says Adam Hodges, Boeing’s head of business development for vertical lift programs. The company is looking to offer the CH-47F Block II through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales process.
It is not clear if Poland will launch a formal competition. Warsaw has previously held talks with Leonardo about the potential purchase of AW101s to satisfy its needs for a heavy-lift helicopter. In neighboring Germany, where Boeing secured an order for 60 Chinooks, the company faced competition from Lockheed Martin with the CH-53K.
Sizable orders and relatively attractive labor costs have helped Warsaw attract industrial partnerships with many of its defense acquisitions. Pratt & Whitney is hoping its history in the country will provide an opening to break into the F-15EX market if Boeing prevails in the fighter competition. GE Aerospace is the incumbent on that aircraft with the F110.
Pratt has a sizable footprint in Poland from F100 work it placed there when Warsaw acquired Lockheed Martin F-16s more than two decades ago. Josh Goodman, the senior F100 program director, says the scope of work would increase meaningfully if Poland opts for the Pratt engine in an F-15EX deal. The engine-maker would expand the work packages in the country to give the Polish Air Force sovereign sustainment capabilities, he said, adding that efforts to certify the engine for EX use would be limited. GE says its engine will be available and stresses its in-country work, which is expanding in part because its engines power the AH-64Es.
Companies already are eyeing the next modernization cycle. Northrop Grumman signed industrial agreements with Polish companies around its E-2D airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft, even though Poland only recently took delivery of two Saab 340-based platforms. Warsaw has said the Swedish aircraft is an interim system but has not spelled out when it may pursue a long-term solution.
Saab is betting Poland may follow the path of the United Arab Emirates, which fielded an interim product from the company before becoming the launch customer for its GlobalEye AEW platform. Boeing, which is looking to sell its E-7 Wedgetail to NATO, has its eye on the Polish requirement as well.
Poland also has expressed interest in buying air-to-air refueling aircraft. Boeing has briefed the country on the KC-46A, while Airbus has held talks around the A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), specifically the A330neo-based MRTT+, which uses Trent 7000 engines to provide greater fuel-offload potential or range.
Airbus sees Poland as a buyer at some point of A400M transport aircraft, not only for military operations but also to support missions such as evacuation of nationals. Warsaw relied on Spain to pull Polish nationals out of Sudan in 2023 as the African country plunged into civil war.
Poland’s appetite goes beyond platforms. It is investing heavily in air and missile defenses and weapons. Lockheed Martin expects Warsaw to buy more Javelin anti-tank missiles, for instance, and has opened early talks with the country about the Precision Strike Missile short-range ballistic missile system.
MBDA, which has sold several air and missile defense systems to Poland involving the Common Anti-Air Modular Missile—both in baseline and extended-range configurations—is in talks with Warsaw about launching a medium-range version of the interceptor, possibly as a cooperative effort with the UK.
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