The Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Norway chose to equip themselves with the Piorun Man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS), following successes against Russian aircraft in Ukraine.
See also: Manpads in Ukraine: The return of Russian aircraft’s biggest fear
The agreement between the Norwegian Defense Material Agency and the Polish company Mesko, manufacturer of the Piorun system, was signed today in Oslo. Norway becomes the third export customer of the Polish MANPADS system, after Estonia and the United States.
Siły Zbrojne Królestwa Norwegii będą wyposażone w systemy rakietowe #PIORUN produkowane przez @PGZ_MESKO_SA. Umowa w tej sprawie została podpisana 29 listopada w Oslo.🇳🇴jest kolejnym, po 🇪🇪i🇺🇸 krajem, który zdecydował się na zakup PIORUNÓW. #pgz https://t.co/naSy9iF0UZ pic.twitter.com/Xsu8wIzGY1
— Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa🇵🇱 (@PGZ_pl) November 29, 2022
– The contract is the result of an open procedure in which we competed with European and American suppliers of this class of armaments. The work done over the past year by the Polish Armament Group made our bid much better than our competitors and we won the tender. Of course, we have not said our last word. This is our stop in the expansion to external markets. Our strategy for this product group is based on this. In a fairly short period of time, we have successfully adapted our offer to the specific requirements of the Norwegian customer, which proves our flexibility in both business and technology,» notes Przemyslaw Kowalczuk, General Director of PGZ.
The contract is worth nearly US$ 35 million and provides for the delivery of several launch sets and several hundred missiles, which will be operated mainly by the Norwegian Army. Norway will begin taking delivery of the Piorun during 2023.
Norway started the procurement work for MANPADS-type systems in the fall of 2021 and since then two rounds of bidding and months of close dialogue and further negotiations with relevant suppliers took place.
«We received very good offers from several suppliers, but decided that Piorun offers the best combination in terms of time, performance and cost. It can be delivered relatively quickly, meets the function and performance requirements, and also delivers good results in terms of cost,» said Brigadier General Jarle Nergård, NDMA’s head of Air Systems.
The new Piorun MANPADS will cover the lowest tier, being able to fire heat-seeking guided missiles against drones, helicopters and manned aircraft from ground level to altitudes of 4,000 meters.
