European allies team up to buy Polish portable anti-aircraft systems

WARSAW, Poland — Poland, Norway, Lithuania and Latvia have signed a framework agreement to buy Piorun (Thunderbolt) man-portable air defense systems from Polish state-run defense group PGZ under a deal worth more than 8 billion zloty ($2.2 billion).

The acquisition covers “several thousand missiles and several hundred launch units,” PGZ said in a statement. Deliveries of the group’s flagship weapon are to be completed by 2030, with Poland serving as the consortium’s leader.

On Poland’s side, the procurement will be financed from the European Union’s Security Action For Europe (SAFE) scheme which foresees around €43.7 billion ($50.9 billion) in low-cost loans for Warsaw. More than 80% of the acquired gear is to be delivered to the Polish military.

“Not only are we implementing this agreement through the Polish defense industry, but our partners from Lithuania, Latvia and Norway have also decided to make purchases in Poland,” Deputy Defence Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said. “For the first time, the Armament Agency is making purchases not only for the Polish Armed Forces, but also for the armed forces of our allies.”

Building on the weapon’s successful use in Ukraine and the resulting international demand for the Piorun, PGZ officials say that, over the past several years, the group has increased its dedicated missile production capacity from 300 to 1,500 units annually, with plans to reach a capacity of more than 2,000 missiles per year.

Amid the weapon’s increasing popularity among European allies, PGZ has also sold the Piorun to numerous countries outside Europe, including the United States, Japan and Indonesia.

The current generation of the MANPADS is able to hit targets at an altitude of up to 4 kilometers (2.5 miles), and it has a range of up to 6.5 kilometers (4 miles), according to data from the producer. PGZ’s subsidiary MESKO, the group’s leading maker of ammunition and rockets, manufactures the Piorun at its plant in Skarżysko-Kamienna, in central Poland.

Meanwhile, PGZ is also working on a new version of the product, the Piorun New Generation (NG). The weapon is to be enabled with a longer range, additional features, and improved portability, company representatives said.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——波兰、挪威、立陶宛和拉脱维亚签署了一项框架协议，将从波兰国有国防集团PGZ购买Piorun（雷电）便携式防空系统，交易金额超过80亿兹罗提（22亿美元）。

PGZ在一份声明中表示，此次采购包括“数千枚导弹和数百套发射装置”。该集团的旗舰武器将于2030年前交付完毕，波兰是该财团的牵头国。

波兰方面，此次采购将由欧盟的“欧洲安全行动”（SAFE）计划提供资金，该计划预计将向华沙提供约437亿欧元（509亿美元）的低息贷款。超过80%的采购装备将交付给波兰军队。

“我们不仅通过波兰国防工业来落实这项协议，而且我们的立陶宛、拉脱维亚和挪威伙伴也决定在波兰采购，”国防部副部长玛格达莱娜·索布科维亚克-恰尔内茨卡表示。“军备局首次不仅为波兰武装部队采购，也为我们盟国的武装部队采购。”

PGZ 官员表示，鉴于该武器在乌克兰的成功使用以及由此产生的国际需求，在过去的几年里，该集团已将其专用导弹年产量从 300 枚增加到 1500 枚，并计划达到每年 2000 多枚的产能。

随着该武器在欧洲盟友中越来越受欢迎，PGZ 也向欧洲以外的许多国家出售了 Piorun，包括美国、日本和印度尼西亚。

据生产商提供的数据，目前这一代便携式防空导弹系统（MANPADS）能够打击4公里（2.5英里）高度的目标，射程可达6.5公里（4英里）。PGZ集团旗下的MESKO公司是该集团领先的弹药和火箭制造商，其位于波兰中部斯卡日斯科-卡缅纳的工厂生产Piorun导弹。

与此同时，PGZ公司也在研发该产品的升级版——新一代皮奥伦（Piorun NG）。公司代表表示，这款武器将拥有更远的射程、更多附加功能以及更佳的便携性。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。