Polish Defense Ministry Starts Tender Talks on 16 Army Helicopters With 3 Firms

The Polish Defense Ministry has opened tender negotiations on the delivery of eight helicopters for special forces and eight anti-submarine helicopters with three producers, namely Boeing, and jointly with German Lufthansa Group and Italian marine antennas producer Glomex, the statement on the ministry’s official website said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the statement, the ministry has already sent the invitations for the tender to the three producers and is expecting offers from them. The first round of talks concerns only helicopters for special forces, including financial aspects of the deal, offset requirements and delivery schedule. The talks will be strictly confidential.

The statement added that the decision of the previous ministry’s leadership to buy helicopters from the French company Airbus was averted after Airbus "was not able to make a satisfactory offer" within the offset agreement. New offset requirements of the Polish side include building a service center for the Wojskowe Zaklady Lotnicze nr 1 (Military Aviation Works No. 1) in Lodz, specializing in repairing helicopters, as well as helping the country’s industry to modernize and modify helicopters.

Additionally, the Polish Defense Ministry has a tender invitation for the delivery of three aircraft intended for carriage of "the most important people" in Poland.

In January, Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said that this year Poland would buy 16 military helicopters.