Helikopter - Polens planlagte kjøp av H225M under press

Poland's H225M Deal in Opposition Crosshairs

Poland’s main political opposition party is calling for the military to halt plans for a $3 billion acquisition of 25 H225M Caracals from Airbus Helicopters. A senior Ministry of Defense advisor told a press conference May 27 that the helicopter had completed pre-qualification flight and ground tests and that talks would start in June on final terms of the deal, including industrial offsets. (Sikorsky Aircraft and AgustaWestland had vied with Airbusfor the Polish order.) But members of Poland’s conservative Law and Justice Party are urging the government to refrain from completing the deal. That party won its first national victory in a decade May 24 when its candidate beat Poland’s incumbent president (an ally of Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz) in an upset win. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for late October.