WSK “PZL-Świdnik” SA Landscape after the tender
In the recently completed tender for the supply of multi-purpose medium helicopters for the Polish Armed Forces, the offer of PZL Świdnik was officially rejected for formal reasons. The plant, owned by AgustaWestland, intends to use every chance to win this contract by filing a civil lawsuit in June against the Armaments Inspectorate of the Ministry of National Defence.
According to the company, there were many violations in the tender procedure which cannot be made public due to the confidentiality clauses in force. PZL Świdnik demands that the tender be closed without selecting the winning bid. The Department emphasizes that the irregularities concern, inter alia, changes to the rules and scope of the tender procedure at a very late stage of the procedure, but also draws attention to violations of applicable law.
Because of this confidentiality, it is also not possible to clearly compare the details of bidders' bids. Unofficially, it is said that PZL Świdnik's offer included the AW149 helicopter in a non-existent version with PL markings, slightly different from currently flying prototypes and thus better suited to the tender. Hence, probably, the statements of the Ministry of Defense regarding the alleged delivery of the helicopter in the "base-transport" version, and not the special one, within the required time frame (2017). Even if the AW149PL was supposed to be slightly different from the current type of this rotorcraft, with the current state of technology, these differences should not have been significant enough to make it difficult to train the flight and maintenance personnel of the new type. It is possible that the helicopter proposed by PZL Świdnik and the industrial program would be more beneficial for Poland in the long run - however, we do not know this yet due to confidentiality clauses of the procedure.
Representatives of the Ministry of National Defense calmly approach the charges of PZL Świdnik, awaiting the court's decision. However, it is not known when the case will be heard and how long it will take to close it. The situation seems to be dangerous for the interests of the Polish state and the Polish Armed Forces if the contract with Airbus Helicopters is signed and its implementation is advanced, and at the same time the court upheld the allegations raised by PZL Świdnik and ordered the Ministry of National Defense to close the tender without choosing a winner . What will then happen to any helicopters already delivered, and who will bear the significant costs of the contract? Here, the dispute begins to extend beyond the military and economic categories, and in fact also have political significance. The way of solving it will determine the shape of rotorcraft aviation in our country for many years, so every effort should be made to obtain the best possible result of these proceedings.
Potential of the plant in Świdnica
Krzysztof Krystowski, Chairman of the Board of PZL Świdnik, during a meeting with journalists and members of the Parliamentary National Defense Committee at the end of July this year, emphasized the unique capabilities of the plant in terms of designing and manufacturing modern helicopters from scratch. . Only a few of the world's most developed countries, including Poland, have real opportunities in this regard. Of the 1700 R&D engineers in the Agust-Westland Group, 650 work for PZL Świdnik. Last year, AgustaWestland spent more than 460 million euros on research and development, representing more than 10 percent of revenue. In recent years, the Polish factory AgustaWestland has received more and more orders to conduct key research groups for the future, as examples of which are now starting fatigue tests of the AW609 convertible wing fuselage, as well as tests of other critical components of the helicopter.
Last year, PZL Świdnik employed over 3300 people, with revenues of almost PLN 875 million. Most of the production is exported, its value exceeded PLN 700 million. In 2010-2014, the PZL Świdnik plant transferred approximately PLN 400 million to the state budget in the form of taxes and social security contributions. The cooperation with 900 suppliers from all over Poland, employing approximately 4500 employees in activities for the plant, is also important. The main production of the Świdnica factory is currently the construction of AgustaWestland helicopter structures. The hulls and tail beams of the AW109, AW119, AW139 models and the AW149 and AW189 families are made here, as well as metal and composite elements for the AW101 and the AW159 horizontal ballasts.
Since 1993, the center of turboprop planes of ATR regional communication has been built in the Świdnik plant. PZL Świdnik's products also include door components for narrow-body Airbuses, composite casings of SaM146 turbofan jet engines for Italian-Russian Suchoj SSJs and similar components for Bombardier, Embraer and Gulfstream aircraft. The hulls and wings of the available Pilatus PC-12s, which have been built for several years, will unfortunately soon disappear from the halls of the Świdnica plant, as the Swiss manufacturer has decided to move them to India.
In the event of AW149 winning the Polish tender, the AgustaWestland group declared the transfer of all final production of the AW149 and AW189 models to Świdnik (including the transfer of "source codes" for production and future modernization of these models), which would mean investments worth around PLN 1 billion and technology transfer in off set of several times greater value. In addition, PZL Świdnik would also build AW169 hulls and produce AW109 Trekker helicopters. According to the data presented by the Świdnik plant, the AgustaWestland group's investments could guarantee the creation and maintenance of twice as many jobs until at least 2035 than in the case of selecting competitors' offers, assuming only the assembly of helicopters in the number ordered by the military.
Falcon is always alive
However, the W-3 Sokół multipurpose medium helicopter is still the flagship end product of the Świdnica plant. It is already old, but has been gradually modernized and still meets the requirements of some buyers. Not all customers need expensive and modern cars stuffed with electronics. The W-3 Sokół is a robust design that performs well in difficult operating conditions, which places it in a specific market niche and defines the type of target audience. Among the buyers of about a dozen helicopters of this type, delivered in recent years, are Algeria (eight) and the Philippines (also eight).
Another last year's buyer of the W-3A was the Ugandan Police Force, whose air force consisted of the only Bell 206 helicopter, crashed in 2010. The security services of this Central African country will soon receive a helicopter in a variant equipped with numerous devices supporting police and transport operations : electro-optical observation head FLIR UltraForce 350 HD, winch, fasteners for landing ropes with high lifting capacity, a set of megaphones, the possibility of securing loads on a sub-hull suspension and cabin air conditioners necessary in the African climate. The W-3A helicopter, serial number 371009, is undergoing factory tests with registration marks SP-SIP; it will soon receive its final navy blue livery and will be used to train Ugandan pilots.
