We are ready for any tasks set by the client

Lukasz Pacholski talks with Leszek Walczak, President of Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze nr 2 SA.

The launch of a new facility - a maintenance and painting hangar - is an entry into new markets for your company, and therefore a challenge ...

Indeed, the first service was opened in December last year, which made it possible to receive C-130E transport aircraft with the number 1502 in January. Another copy will arrive in September. This is a major challenge and opportunity, which is why we take the implementation of the Hercules PDM program very seriously. Due to the cost-effectiveness ratio, this will help us to receive foreign orders in the future. The first test is the completed work on copy 1501, which passed the DPM in Powidze.

All investments in the hangar will end in May, when the painting area opens. We want it to feature the first large civil aircraft, primarily owned by European users. This will be the entrance to a new line of activity - comprehensive maintenance of civil equipment. To prepare for this, we train people, incl. for the ATR-72 fuselage we bought. Negotiations have been going on for a year, so in May we are ready to carry out specific tasks. The opening of the hangar, in addition to the development of the design department, will also increase the staff this year to 750 people. We will employ only highly qualified specialists.

In addition to investing in a new maintenance and paint shop, we are also building a new taxiway that will connect the hangar to the airport.

Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze nr 2 SA has recently entered a new market segment, namely unmanned aerial vehicles - primarily for the army, but maybe for someone else?

Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze nr 2 SA, as BSP Competency Manager at Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa SA, takes part in tenders related to the Wizjer and Orlik programs. We want to focus on the development of not only our plant and other partners belonging to PGZ, but also to secure our future as a manufacturer and adjuster of unmanned aerial vehicles for the army and beyond.

This gives us a kind of certificate that allows us to enter other markets also in this area, showing that PGZ can acquire an unmanned system that allows a wide range of activities. We have our own design team, and we are working on UAVs of various categories - so far at the prototype stage. If we move to production, this will give us an impetus for further development, for example, by increasing employment.