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.