Poland prioritizing drones for defense, postpones order for Black Hawk helicopters, official says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo via Polish Armed Forces

WARSAW  -  Poland has postponed the purchase of 32 more U.S. Lockheed Martin S-70i Black Hawk helicopters for its army, the Polish Ministry of Defence said on Friday, referring to a shift in priorities. 

Poland launched negotiations for the acquisition of the helicopters produced by Lockheed Martin's Polish arm PZL Mielec, in 2023 under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government.    

"We have decided to change the priorities of the helicopter programs... to better adapt to the challenges of future warfare," armed forces chief of staff General Wieslaw Kukula told a press conference.

The Polish military aims to prioritise the acquisition of training and combat helicopters, a versatile naval carrier helicopter, and a heavy transport helicopter, Kukula said.

Earlier Polish media reported the acquisition process for the Black Hawks was cancelled. 

Lockheed Martin said in an email on Friday, that it looks forward to continuing its long-standing partnership with Poland where 1,700 PZL Mielec employees are involved in the manufacture of F-16 fighters and Black Hawks. 

Grzegorz Polak, a spokesman for Poland's Armament Agency which buys equipment for the army, told Reuters on Friday that "some correction" was needed regarding priorities in light of the geopolitical situation and state security interests. 

"Maybe it is necessary to acquire other equipment in its (helicopters') place such as drones, or tanks, or some kind of communication," he said, adding it was not the agency that set procurement priorities.

PiS lawmaker Mariusz Blaszczak, who was defence minister in the previous government, labelled the decision to suspend the purchase of the Black Hawks a "disgrace" in a post on X, saying it would slow down the replacement of the helicopter fleet.

 (Reporting by Barbara Erling, Editing by William Maclean and Elaine Hardcastle // REUTERS)