Vehicles ordered for Poland’s PILICA+ short-range air defence system

Poland’s PGZ-PILICA+ consortium has signed a deal with the country’s armaments agency for the provision of Jelcz chassis and the vehicle's integration with iLauncher launchers which form part of PILICA+ air-defence batteries.

The contract has been valued at approximately PLN550 million (US$139 million) and delivery will be expected over the next five-to-six years. Jelcz will deliver the chassis which will be integrated with the iLaunchers at the Military Armament Works.

The total order consists of 44 iLaunchers and, therefore 44 vehicles which form part of 22 PILICA+ air defence batteries.

PILICA+ consists of iLauncher short-range rocket launchers with CAMM missiles, BYSTRA radars and elements of the Pilica anti-aircraft missile and artillery systems, specifically command post, short-range radar, six fire units, a communication subsystem and anti-aircraft guns.

The missile and artillery systems have been designed to be capable of conducting autonomous operations in various weather and visibility conditions with the use of passive reconnaissance and tracking systems.

The rate of fire of the guns and range also make it possible for the system to fire at ground and surface targets and, with the use of common data exchange protocols, the system ensures the transmission and reception of data from other air defence systems.