KIELCE, Poland — U.S. defense-technology company Anduril Industries has teamed up with Poland’s state-run defense giant PGZ for local assembly and production of the surface-launched Barracuda-500M cruise missile. Pending ongoing negotiations with the Polish Ministry of National Defence, the producer is also pitching its Fury autonomous combat aircraft and the Thunder autonomous attack rotorcraft to Poland in an effort that could make the nation their first European user.
Brian Moran, the company’s vice president for Europe, told Defense News at the MSPO defense show here that, while advancing the Barracuda project in partnership with PGZ, the company is also offering two autonomous aircraft to accompany the country’s envisioned fleets of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jets and Boeing’s AH-64E Apache attack helicopters.
“One of the flagship programs for Anduril has been collaborative combat aircraft, CCA, where our Fury has been chosen by the United States Air Force as a program of record,” Moran said. “With Poland getting its F-35s, Fury is tailor-made to partner with an F-35 as a loyal wingman and as a force multiplier to keep men and women in uniform out of harm’s way.”
In addition to 32 F-35 jets, the first of which arrived in Poland last May, Warsaw is also awaiting the delivery of 96 Apache helicopters. With the latter program in mind, Anduril is in talks with Polish officials over a potential sale of the Thunder drone, following its unveiling at July’s Farnborough Airshow.
“In July, we launched Thunder which is an autonomous collaborative platform for the Apache attack helicopter,” Moran said. “And just like Fury operating with an F-35, with Poland getting all these Apaches, having Thunder is a force multiplier, especially as Poland will have to train a lot of pilots for 96 Apaches.”
Deliveries of the 96 helicopters with related gear and weapons are scheduled to begin in 2028. Once the copters are supplied to the country, Poland’s military is expected to be the second-largest user of the Apaches in the world after the United States.
Last year, the Polish defense ministry signed a $300 million contract to lease eight AH-64D Apaches from the United States in anticipation of the planned deliveries.
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