Poland Signs Largest-Ever Piorun MANPADS Contract with Four European Armies

Poland has signed the largest-ever contract to supply Piorun MANPADS to Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, and the Polish Armed Forces.

According to Poland’s Ministry of Defense, the €1.86 billion framework agreement was signed at the MESKO plant in Skarżysko-Kamienna, south-central Poland.

The deal covers the delivery of several thousand Piorun man-portable air-defense systems.

More than 80% of the order will be delivered to the Polish Armed Forces, while the remainder will go to Lithuania, Latvia, and Norway under the EU’s SAFE program, a financing mechanism for joint defense procurement.

Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said this is the first agreement of its kind in which the consortium consists of allied governments rather than companies.

The agreement, signed between Poland’s State Agency for Armaments and MESKO S.A., also includes personnel training and logistics support packages.

Piorun MANPADS

The Piorun man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) is a very short-range air-defense system designed to counter low-flying threats, including aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The missile system is a major modernization of its predecessor, the Grom, which was introduced into the Polish Armed Forces in 1995. The Grom itself was developed on the basis of the Soviet Igla-1 and Igla man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS).

Development of the Piorun took place from 2010 to 2015. As part of the modernization, the cooled, stabilized infrared homing seeker was significantly improved using modern electronic components. The seeker was given higher resolution and became four times more sensitive. The seeker uses argon as a coolant.

The Piorun system weighs 16.5 kg, of which 10.5 kg is the missile. The missile is 1.596 m long and carries an enhanced 1.82 kg warhead. It can engage aerial targets at altitudes of 10 to 4,000 m and at ranges of 500 to 6,500 m from the operator.

In addition to the countries covered by the framework agreement, Estonia, Belgium, Moldova, Georgia, and Sweden also operate the system.

Ukraine has successfully used the Polish MANPADS in combat since 2022, using them to shoot down several Russian helicopters, aircraft, cruise missiles, and drones.