Germany and France intend to purchase Polish Piorun man-portable air defense systems as part of the SAFE program.
According to Defence24, Deputy Minister of National Defence Cezary Tomczyk announced Germany’s interest at a press conference last Friday, while France’s interest was revealed by the Polish publication’s own sources.
In the case of the French order, some of the MANPADS will be supplied to the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine. This accounts for about 70% of the systems purchased by France.
If the agreements are finalized, Germany and France will join the users of MANPADS, which already include Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Sweden, the United States, and Ukraine.
Ukraine has been successfully using Polish MANPADS in combat since 2022 and has shot down a number of Russian helicopters, aircraft, cruise missiles, and drones with their help. Read more about this in the article.
Piorun MANPADS
Piorun MANPADS is a Polish anti-aircraft system developed by Mesko (leader), CRW Telesystem-Mesko, and the Military University of Technology.
It can engage aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, or other flying objects at ranges from 400 m to 6.5 km and altitudes from 10 m to 4 km.
