Norway has agreed to buy hundreds of Piorun man-portable air-defence systems from their Polish manufacturer, Mesko. It becomes the third country – after the United States and Estonia – to buy Pioruns, which have proved a success in Ukraine’s defence against Russia, after Poland supplied the system to Kyiv.
An agreement was signed yesterday in Oslo between the Norwegian armed forces and Mesko, which said it will deliver “several hundred Piorun missiles and launch mechanisms”. Norway will pay around 350 million krone (159 million zloty, €34 million), reports defence news outlet ZBiAM.
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 Polish firm’s vice president, Przemysław Kowalczuk, noted that “the contract is the result of an open tender in which we competed with European and American suppliers” but in which “our offer [was] much better than our competitors'”.
“We received very good offers from several suppliers, but we decided that Piorun offered the best balances of costs, characteristics and delivery time,” said Norway’s Brigadier General Jarle Nergård.
Kowalczuk also revealed that other similar deals are expected to be announced in the near future, as Mesko – which is part of the state-owned Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) – continues its expansion into the global market.
Piorun anti aircraft missiles donated to Ukraine by Poland shot down the Russian Mi-24 helicopter today.
Unlike Stingers, Piorun can down targets flying very low (10m altitude/400m distance). #Ukraine #Poland pic.twitter.com/tObKBZQ9KU
— The Azeri Times (@AzeriTimes) March 5, 2022
The Piorun (whose name means “lightning” in Polish) went into service in 2019 as a modernisation of the Grom (meaning “thunder”) man-portable air-defence system.
Pioruns have been among military aid worth almost $2 billion that Poland has donated to Ukraine this year, to help its neighbour defend itself following Russia’s invasion. They have been successfully used to shoot down Russian Su-34 and Su-25 planes as well as Mi-24 and Ka-52 helicopters.
In September, Mesko signed a contract to deliver 300 Piorun missiles and 100 launch mechanisms to Estonia. In February, just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it announced that the US government had ordered “several hundred” Piorun systems.
In June, Poland’s defence minister, Mariusz Błaszczak, approved an agreement increasing the number of Pioruns ordered for the Polish military to 3,500 missiles and 600 launch mechanisms.
Saint Piorun, aka the Thunderbolt. Gifted to Ukrainians by the wonderful people of Poland, Saint Piorun is most feared by Russian aircraft that dare to fly low above the holy Ukrainian land.
Link: https://t.co/NKonk9gwhi pic.twitter.com/ZcEfXPqTKz
— Saint Javelin (@saintjavelin) June 21, 2022
Main image credit: Mesko press materials
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
