Poland Purchases Rounds for Its FA-50 Fighter Jets for the First Time

Turkish company Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi signed an agreement to export 20 mm ammunition for FA-50 light fighter jets to Poland at the DSEI 2025 exhibition. This will allow aircraft delivered in 2023 to begin using their cannon weapons.

Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi announced the deal on its X account.

Martin Strembski, editor-in-chief of Portal Militarny and editor of LOTNICTWO magazine, noted that Polish company Mildat acted as an intermediary.

Mildat received an order from Poland’s Ministry of Defense Armaments Agency for 50,000 HEI M56A3 high-explosive incendiary shells and 50,000 TP M55A2 training shells for the 20-mm M197 cannons installed on the FA-50.

The contract with Mildat was signed on August 14, 2025, and deliveries are expected to be completed in 2026. The contract is valued at approximately PLN 18 million (€4.2 million).

This was the third procurement procedure for FA-50 cannon ammunition. Previous attempts in March 2023 and April 2024 were invalidated due to a lack of eligible applications.

With this agreement, aircraft purchased from South Korea will finally be able to use their gun armament.

Poland already operates F-16s, equipped with M61 Vulcan 20×102 mm cannons made by Polish company Mesko under license from Norwegian firm Nammo. However, that ammunition is not certified for the M197 guns and therefore cannot be used on the FA-50.

Problems with the Armament of Polish FA-50 Fighter Jets

In September 2024, Deputy Defense Minister Cesary Tomczyk criticized the way FA-50s were purchased, particularly the lack of armament.
FA-50GF aircraft can only use older AIM-9L, M, and P versions, not the new AIM-9X missiles purchased for Poland’s F-16s and F-35s.

In late June 2025, the Ministry of Defense said it had identified a supplier and planned to sign a contract for AIM-9L missiles. Until then, the aircraft will use leased AIM-9Ps.

The FA-50GF is an interim aircraft, intended to be upgraded to the PL version over time. Poland purchased 12 FA-50GFs and 36 FA-50PLs, along with additional services, in July 2022. The purchase price was about $705 million for the FA-50GF and $2.3 billion for the FA-50PL.

FA-50GFs were delivered in the second half of 2023. Deliveries of the 36 FA-50PLs will begin in 2025 and are expected to be completed by the end of 2028.

Integration of the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air medium-range missile into the FA-50PL remains a challenge, as funding for the integration was not included in the original purchase. US approval is also required. Reports indicate the feasibility study is ongoing and is expected to be completed in 3-4 years.