WARSAW, Poland — The Polish Ministry of National Ministry is advancing plans to buy new transport and refueling aircraft, with major players Airbus and Boeing intensifying their rivalry for potential contracts.
A Polish MoD spokesperson confirmed the ministry’s aircraft procurement plans, but also said the final scope of these purchases is yet to be defined.
“Poland is considering to accelerate the acquisition of air refueling capabilities. We are interested in acquiring aircraft capable of acting both as air tankers and transport aircraft under the Karkonosze program,” the spokesperson told Defense News.
The Polish ministry plans to buy refueling planes to service the country’s growing fleet of fighters. Poland operates F-16 jets and FA-50 light attack aircraft, among others, and is awaiting the delivery of the first of its 32 ordered F-35 fighters in 2026.
Local observers name Airbus’s A330 multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) as one of the forerunners for the potential order. The ministry is also considering to acquire the European group’s A400M transport aircraft, Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in January 2025 during a visit to the Airbus Defence and Space plant in Bremen, German specialist news site Hartpunkt.de reported.
Meanwhile, as Poland’s government is mulling plans to purchase shares in Airbus, Warsaw could combine its investment with buying between two and four A330 MRTT aircraft and between six and eight A400M planes for the Polish military, according to French daily Le Monde.
The European group will likely compete for the potential order against Boeing which has been heavily promoting its KC-46 tanker in Poland alongside the F-15EX fighter jet offer for the country’s Air Force. The Polish military is considering to acquire a further 32 fighter jets, and it is also assessing the Eurofighter Typhoon and buying more F-35s.
In a major win for Boeing, in August 2024, Poland signed a deal worth about $10 billion to purchase 96 AH-64E Apache copters. The deal was followed by a $300 million contract signed in February under which the Ministry of National Defence leased eight Boeing AH-64D helos from the United States this year.
Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.
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