Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak informed that a contract for the supply of 'Piorun' anti-aircraft systems for Estonia will be signed this week. The head of the Ministry of National Defense confirmed the unofficial reports of Defence24.com, which was the first to inform about the case.
As Minister Błaszczak said in an interview with the i.pl portal, the contract for the supply of Pioruns (lightning bolts) for Estonia is to be signed "in literally a few days." The missiles will be produced by the Mesko plant. The unofficial reports of Defence24 show that the contract will cover several dozen launch mechanisms and several hundred missiles.
Thanks to its implementation, Estonia will become the third foreign user of Polish MANPADS and the second among the Baltic countries. The first is Lithuania, which in 2014 purchased a large batch of older Grom (thunder) MANPADs.
This year, an annex was also signed to the earlier contract for the supply of Piorun to Polish Arm Forces concerning a total of 3.5 thousand. missiles and 600 starting mechanisms. Kits of this type were ordered by the United States at the beginning of the year before Russia's open aggression against Ukraine.
Ukraine also received a certain number of Piorun systems as military aid. The rockets have been successfully used in combat, shooting down: Ka-52 and Mi-24 attack helicopters, Su-25 and Su-34 combat aircraft, as well as Orlan-10 drones, difficult to track and at the same time, dangerous for Ukrainian forces because they coordinate the "firewall" of the Russian artillery.
