Today, the Inspectorate of Armaments, acting as the contracting authority on behalf of the Minister of Defense for armaments and military equipment, announced the launch of negotiations with the three contractors which have already submitted initial bids for the supply of eight helicopters capable of carrying out the special forces combat search and rescue mission, and eight helicopters designed for anti-submarine warfare, with the simultaneous ability to conduct rescue missions at sea. (The three bidders are AgustaWestland, Airbus Helicopters and Sikorsky—Ed.)
The Commission submitted today its invitation to tender to the bidders. In the first phase, negotiations will be opened for the acquisition of the helicopters for the special forces, whose acquisition is the most urgent.
Helicopters currently used for the mission have to be retired by the end of 2019, and will fulfill their mission until then.
Therefore, negotiations on the maritime helicopters will be carried out after analysis of the delivery schedules proposed by the bidders. The Ministry has allowed the possibility of receiving the helicopters in two batches of four helicopters.
The procedure is conducted in the manner provided for the procurement of fundamental importance for the security of the state.
Therefore, negotiations must be under complete confidentiality. This means that until the end of the process, no details can be made public.
It was in connection with this qualification procedure that all bidders had to agree on the principle of circulation of classified information. To ensure total consistency of rules in this respect, as well as equal treatment of European and American bidders, the Inspectorate of Armaments worked out a new formula for the exchange of necessary documents, which provides a fully competitive procedure while ensuring information security.
New requirements were also prepared for offsets, which must be an integral part of the contract.
Negligence in the field of offset requirements made by the previous MOD chiefs gave rise to protracted discussions with Airbus Helicopters, in the course of which the French side was not able to submit satisfactory proposals. Eventually, it became a reason for the cancellation of negotiations offset by the Ministry of Development and the cancellation of the whole of the previous proceedings.
This time, carefully-prepared Polish offset requirements ensure that in the course of the present proceedings will be negotiated such a range of commitments provider that fully protect the interests of the domestic industry and will ensure full security of supply, repair and maintenance of equipment in emergency situations.
As part of these expectations, it is envisaged that the supplier be obligated to set up a service center in the Military Aircraft Works No. 1 in Łódź with the ability to repair major teams, as well as the acquisition by the domestic industry of the ability to upgrade and modify the helicopters.
Today, we look forward to joining the bidders to not only clarify the requirements – Technical, tactical and financial parameters – but also delivery schedules and the specific obligations offset provider.
Because of bidders have full knowledge of their own production and offset capabilities and of the expectations of the Armed Forces, we expect bidders to promptly submit their initial bids and quickly conduct the necessary negotiations with the bargaining committee.
At the same time, the Armament Inspectorate today issued an invitation to tender for the supply of three “medium” aircraft for the transport of the most important people in the country.
It launched the tender procedure involving the Boeing Company and Lufthansa, together with the company Glomex.
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