Breaking news
Poland announces purchase of 50 Airbus Helicopters' H225M Caracal multi-mission helicopter.
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World
Defense & Security Industry News - Airbus Helicopters |
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| Poland announces purchase of 50 Airbus Helicopters' H225M Caracal multi-mission helicopter | |||
Airbus
Helicopters has won a tender to replace Poland's Soviet-era military choppers,
beating out British-Italian group AgustaWestland and US manufacturer Sikorsky,
local media reported Tuesday, April 21. Airbus Helicopters, formerly Eurocopter,
has won the tender to deliver 50 Caracal H225M multipurpose helicopters
to Poland's army under a contract worth an estimated 2.5 billion euros
($3 billion), according to the Gazeta Wyborcza daily. |
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Polish
Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz was expected to announce the deals later Tuesday,
part of NATO-member Poland's effort to overhaul its military equipment
to the tune of around 140 billion) over 10 years. Poland also plans to acquire armoured personnel carriers, submarines and drones during the revamp, which Warsaw has sped up because of concerns over Russia's activity in neighbouring Ukraine. The Polish defence ministry had earlier said the winning helicopter would undergo tests in Poland before the contract is signed by the end of the year. Airbus Helicopters said earlier this year that if it
won the chopper tender it would set up a helicopter assembly line and
a manufacturing centre for key helicopter parts in Poland's industrial
hub of Lodz. Gazeta Wyborcza daily also reported, without naming its sources, that Poland has decided to choose Raytheon with its Patriot missiles as the supplier for Poland's mid-range missile defence system. Last year, Poland short-listed Raytheon and a consortium of France's Thales and European group MBDA in its tender for the missile defence system. |
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