Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH
The Polish Government is considering bringing forward planned orders for PZL-Swidnik W-3 Sokol transport helicopters to help the manufacturer if the Huzar battlefield helicopter programme suffers from further significant delays to its schedule.
Deputy defence minister Romuald Szeremietiew has assured the manufacturer that this will be done if decisions on an avionics integrator and missile system for the Huzar programme is not taken soon.
The Government had publicly promised a decision on 17 February, but delayed by another month, citing the emergence of "new information "which complicated the already tangled process.
Swidnik has been waiting since August 1996 for a go-ahead on the 100-helicopter programme.
All options on the Huzar programme remain open, with the Polish Government having decided that the inter-Government agreement signed in October by former economics minister Wieslaw Kaczmarek, awarding missile and avionics contracts to Israel, was invalid because of procedural irregularities. The option of cancelling the current tender and starting from scratch remains open, and this could cause the process to drag on into next year, leaving Swidnik facing increasing financial difficulties.
Even the choice of anti-tank missile, which has always been considered more or less certain to be in favour of Rafael's new NT-D, has been thrown into fresh doubt. An internal defence ministry report from 1997 has surfaced, in which the Polish military calls into question the NT-D's accuracy and performance.
The most likely solution now will be that Poland will stick with the NT-D for the moment, buying a few missiles for testing on Polish soil before making any greater commitment. Rival avionics bidders Boeing and Elbit/El-Op are merely being asked to confirm their bids.
US helicopter manufacturer Bell Helicopter Textron has taken advantage of the repeated delays on the Huzar to propose an alternative deal for licence production of 100 AH-1 Cobras at PZL-Swidnik. The first four helicopters would be US-built, and final assembly of the next 20 would take place in Poland, while the last 76 would be 85% Polish-made.
Source: Flight International
