Poland To Establish UAV Base
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Unmanned aerial vehicles are taking a central place in the operation of air forces all over the world. No self-respecting army today passes on using this unique vehicle, as its various abilities can offer much assistance to commanders in the field, as well as to the common soldier, to receive a more complete point of view on a given situation. The Polish military, however, has taken incorporation of these unmanned aerial capabilities one step further: The military has decided to convert a whole air-force base into a base dedicated to UAVs.
The base, located at the north-west of the country, is currently being used as an airbase for the SU-22 fleet, one of Poland’s army fighter jets., It is the 12th base to be dedicated to unmanned flight, and is set to complete conversion on January 2016. The Polish air force has six different procurement plans for six types of UAVs, chosen according to the operational gaps the air force has encountered during the battles in Afghanistan. The vehicles Polans plans to purchase are:
- Zephyr – MALE UCAV, with high level of autonomy – 12 vehicles are going to be acquired within the scope of this program;
- Gryf – Tactical MALE recce UAV – 12 examples to be acquired;
- Orlik – tactical short range UAV – 12 packages with 3 to 5 platforms in each are going to be procured;
- Wizjer – mini-UAV, similar to the WB Electronics FlyEye – 15 packages with 4-5 UAVs in each package are going to be purchased;
- Ważka – VTOL mini UAV program – need of acquiring 15 UAVs of this type has been expressed;
- Micro-UAV – the smallest VTOL UAV which is going to be used by the special forces’ assault teams in order to increase their situational awareness.
The companies competing in the tender for supplying the attack UAVs are from the UK, United States or Israel. The winner is not yet known, but the fact that Israel is competing as an equal against countries at the forefront of technology, proves more than anything the quality and ability of Israel’s local industry.
