Poland Raises Piorun MANPADS Missile Production to Six Per Day

Polish company MESKO has increased production of missiles for Piorun man-portable air defense systems to six units per day.

This was reported by Polish military analyst Jarosław Wolski, who recently visited the MESKO plant.

“They are assembled manually from parts that, of course, are machine-made. The number of products currently manufactured per day exceeds six units,” Jarosław Wolski said.

At the same time, MESKO is reorganizing production to meet orders for the Polish Armed Forces, export customers, and future contracts under the SAFE program.

SAFE is a European Union defense initiative aimed at rapidly increasing weapons production and procurement in Europe.

Poland became the first EU country to sign an agreement on implementation of the SAFE program.

Piorun is a deeply modernized version of the Polish Grom system.

As part of the modernization, the sensitivity of the infrared seeker was increased fourfold.

The missile is equipped with a 1.82-kg warhead and is capable of engaging targets at altitudes of up to 4,000 meters and ranges of up to 6,500 meters.

Poland transferred the first Piorun systems to Ukraine in early February 2022. The exact number of transferred systems was not disclosed.

Due to their proven combat effectiveness, as well as the global shortage of MANPADS, the Polish systems have received contracts from several countries.

At the same time, the Polish Armaments Agency has launched market consultations in preparation for the procurement of a next-generation MANPADS.