Poland orders iLaunchers and CAMM missiles

The Polish Armament Agency and MBDA have signed a contract for 44 iLaunchers and hundreds of CAMMs for Poland's Pilica+ air-defence upgrade programme. (Polish Armament Agency)

The Polish Armament Agency (AA) and MBDA have announced that they have signed a contract for 44 iLaunchers and hundreds of Common Anti-Air Modular Missiles (CAMMs) for Poland's Pilica+ air-defence upgrade programme. MBDA said in a press release on 27 April that the GBP1.9 billion (USD2.37 billion) contract to modernise and manufacture iLaunchers and CAMMs for 22 Pilica+ batteries made it the largest European short-range air defence (SHORAD) acquisition in NATO. Deliveries are scheduled for 2025–29, the AA said in a 28 April press release.

Designed by Polish Armaments Group (Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa: PGZ), Pilica+ will combine CAMM short-range radar-guided missiles with Polish-made autocannon and very-short range infrared-guided missiles into a triple-layer system commanded by a Polish command-and-control system and guided by Polish radars, according to MBDA. Pilica+ will form the inner tier of the integrated Polish air-defence system, defending high-value and mobile assets, with CAMMs providing the capability to defeat air threats out to 25 km in all weather, the company said.

Poland received its first CAMM battery from MBDA in 2022 as an urgent requirement dubbed mała (small) Narew.