Israel's defence ministry is trying to find a way to allow the nation's leading unmanned air system manufacturers to supply at least part of expected Polish requirements for such equipment, despite having earlier this year withdrawn the export permits to Warsaw held by Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries.
The earlier decision was taken after a fight between the companies that resulted in the resignation of Poland's deputy defence minister Gen Waldemar Skrzypczak. Local media reports cited the official's departure as the result of internal reasons, but a competition between Elbit and IAI to supply UAS to the Polish army was a contributing factor.
Now, Israel's defence ministry has announced that the business opportunity in Poland will be pursued on the basis of "government-to-government" contracts. However, this has not solved the problem, as Warsaw draws closer to releasing its operational requirements.
"The situation now is that only a creative way may bring the Israeli companies back to the Polish market," one Israeli source says. With Poland wanting to use its expected tenders to establish a local UAS industry, such a solution could take the form of a co-operation agreement between an Israeli company and a foreign partner from Europe or the USA, which would front a campaign.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
