Unmanned aerial vehicles for the Polish armed forces

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For many years, there has been talk of unmanned aerial systems in the context of the acquisition of new capabilities by the Polish Armed Forces and other Polish law enforcement agencies. And although the first equipment of this type appeared in the Polish Army back in 2005, and so far, more than 35 mini-UAVs of the tactical level have been purchased for the Ground Forces and Special Forces (four more were purchased, among others, by the Border Service), system purchases are still remain on paper for the time being. Recently, new decisions were made on this issue at the level of the leadership of the Ministry of National Defense.
- Large reconnaissance and combat systems
- Smaller reconnaissance systems

During the NATO summit and World Youth Day in July this year. architectural supervision was carried out by Elbitu BSP, including MEN category Hermes 900.

For many years, there has been talk of unmanned aerial systems in the context of the acquisition of new capabilities by the Polish Armed Forces and other Polish law enforcement agencies. And although the first equipment of this type appeared in the Polish Army back in 2005, and so far, more than 35 mini-UAVs of the tactical level have been purchased for the Ground Forces and Special Forces (four more were purchased, among others, by the Border Service), system purchases are still remain on paper for the time being. Recently, new decisions were made on this issue at the level of the leadership of the Ministry of National Defense.

Firstly, according to mid-July 2016 declarations, as many unmanned systems as possible will be ordered directly from Polish industry, but this term should be understood as companies controlled by the State Treasury, and not private individuals (unless closely cooperating with Poland Armament Group) . The Polish Armed Forces have yet to acquire seven classes of UAV systems. Six - in accordance with the still valid Plan for the technical modernization of the Polish Armed Forces for 2013-2022, the decision to acquire the seventh was made in July this year.

Large reconnaissance and combat systems

The largest and most expensive Polish unmanned systems should be MALE class systems (Medium Altitude Long Endurance - operating at medium altitudes with a long flight duration) codenamed Zefir. Poland plans to acquire four such sets, with three flying cameras each, which will enter service in 2019-2022. "Zephyrs" should have a range of 750 to 1000 km and perform tasks for the benefit of the entire Polish army. These will primarily be reconnaissance missions, but Polish MALEs should also be able to attack targets "previously identified" or detected by their own on-board sensors. Zephyr weapons will include guided air-to-ground missiles, possibly also unguided rockets and hover bombs. The Ministry of National Defense of Poland held talks on the largest unmanned systems with the American company General

Atomics (in this context it is most often referred to as the MQ-9 Reaper) and the Israeli Elbit (Hermes 900). It is interesting that, developed by Elbit SkyEye, a long-range stabilized optoelectronic sensor with its own navigation based on an inertial system and GPS, capable of monitoring an area up to 100 km2, was brought to Poland in June (under a contract with Elbit) to ensure security during July events of exceptional importance that took place in our country: the NATO summit and World Youth Day. It was integrated with two unmanned UAVs: Hermes 900 and Hermes 450. According to the head of the Ministry of National Defense, Antony Matserevich, this system has "performed excellently", which may indicate that Elbit has increased capabilities in the Zephyr and Grif programs.

The second largest reconnaissance and combat capability will be the Gryf medium-range tactical system. He must be able to conduct reconnaissance in the interests of divisions (radius of 200 km) and, at the same time, be able to strike at pre-identified targets with hover bombs and / or unguided rockets. It is planned to purchase up to 10 sets of 3-4 flying cameras each. The Hermes 450, offered jointly with Elbit by the Polish Arms Group, falls into this category. The private company WB Group, cooperating with Thales UK, also took part in the competition. Together they offer a far-reaching Polonization of the proven British Watchkeeper system. The development of their own system of this class is also announced by companies associated with or collaborating with the Polish Arms Group. The basis for it will be the E-310 short-range tactical complex, the pre-production samples of which are currently being tested. However, it may turn out that before it is ready, it will be necessary to obtain some kits based on a foreign platform.

Smaller reconnaissance systems

The previous ruling team emphasized that smaller reconnaissance UAVs should be ordered from Poland, since the domestic industry has full competence for this. The current authorities have added to this the requirement that the Polish state must maintain control over the technologies of domestic unmanned aerial vehicles, and therefore over the economic entities that produce and maintain them. Explaining this with such premises, on July 15 of this year. The Ministry of Defense canceled the current order for the Orlik complexes (a short-range tactical complex operating at the brigade level with a range of at least 100 km, it was planned to purchase 12-15 sets of 3-5 aircraft) and Viewfinder (a mini-UAV system operating on battalion level, range 30 km, initial planned purchase of 15, and eventually 40 sets of 4-5 devices). The intention of the Ministry of National Defense is that the refusal to participate in the current tender does not lead to delays in the entire procedure. Therefore, an invitation to such a procedure should be sent as soon as possible.

“Selected” legal entities (i.e. those under the control of the State Treasury). The Ministry of National Defense expects the creation in Poland of facilities for the final assembly, modernization and maintenance of this equipment. In this situation, the favorite in the Orlik class was the system proposed by the PIT-Radwar SA and WZL No. consortium. 2 SA, operating under the auspices of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa, developed in cooperation with a strategic subcontractor - Eurotech. We are talking about the already mentioned E-310 system. In the Mini-UAV Viewer category, the situation is not so obvious. Israeli Aeronautics Orbiter-2B systems, previously offered by PGZ, or the domestic FlyEye system from WB Group, which is successfully operating in international markets (including Ukraine and has a good chance of participating in a prestigious French tender), may be on the bid. But in the latter case, the Polish private military tycoon will have to enter into an alliance with the state entity.

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