This development marks a significant new milestone for PZL Mielec, which was last involved in the production of fighter aircraft in the 1960s. Beginning next year, PZL Mielec will manufacture the rear fuselage, center fuselage, cockpit structure, cockpit side panel and forward equipment bay for new production F-16s, exporting the aerostructures to Lockheed Martin’s final assembly line in Greenville, South Carolina.

"Today’s announcement underlines our commitment to PZL Mielec and to growing Lockheed Martin’s industrial footprint in Poland, where we currently employ around 1,600 people directly and sustain work for more than 5,000 others in the Polish supply chain," says Robert Orzylowski, Lockheed Martin director for Poland, Central and East Europe.

With orders already secured for the F-16 Block 70/72 from five customers, global interest remains high for new-build production aircraft and for F-16V upgrades.

Poland has operated F-16s in its own fleet for the past 15 years, and this summer marked a 100,000 flight-hour milestone.

Beyond the F-16, Poland is also procuring 32 F-35s, the first of which will be delivered in 2024.

Source:  Lockheed Martin

Delivery of these aircraft are scheduled to start in 2023. With this additional order, Boeing is now under contract for 30 MH-47G Block II Chinooks, four of which have been delivered to date.

These aircraft will be the first to include the new Active Parallel Actuator Subsystem (APAS), a mission system that helps pilots execute more difficult maneuvers while improving safety and reliability of flight.

The MH-47G Block II Chinook also features improved structure and weight reduction initiatives like new lighter weight fuel pods that increase performance and efficiency.

Boeing has more than 4,600 Boeing employees in Pennsylvania supporting H-47 Chinook, V-22 Osprey, MH-139A Grey Wolf and a number of services and engineering efforts. Boeing’s presence, including suppliers and vendors, supports an estimated 16,000 total jobs in Pennsylvania.

Source:  Boeing

Developed by the engineering team at Helibras (the Brazilian subsidiary of Airbus Helicopters), this naval version of the H225M aircraft is the most complex configuration that has ever been produced for this multirole helicopter. The aircraft’s embedded systems include the EWS IDAS-3 (countermeasure system), MBDA Exocet AM39 B2M2 missiles, the APS143 tactical radar and the naval mission system N-TDMS (Naval Tactical Data Management System) developed in partnership with Atech and Airbus Defense and Space, which is responsible for making the command and control of all embedded systems, including the missile system.

The last stage of the firing campaign with the Exocet AM39 B2M2 missiles was successfully carried out last June, representing a major milestone in the program, which led the way to qualification and delivery.

The naval H225M is part of the contract signed by the Brazilian government in 2008 and which includes 50 H225Ms to be operated by the three armed forces. So far, 39 H225Ms have been delivered to the Brazilian Armed Forces, all of them assembled locally by Helibras.

Source:  Airbus