MBDA and Poland sign landmark NAREW project

MBDA has finalised an agreement with Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa S.A. (PGZ) for MBDA’s support for PGZ’s delivery of the NAREW air defence programme for the Polish Armed Forces.

NAREW will provide Poland with a highly advanced mobile air defence system capable of dealing with modern and future threats out to ranges beyond 40 km, utilising the CAMM-ER missile developed in cooperation between the UK and Italy. The PGZ-NAREW Consortium was awarded the executive contracts for NAREW in September from the Polish Armament Agency.

Today’s agreement enables PGZ to implement these executive contracts, valued in excess of £4 billion, by concluding the terms of MBDA’s unprecedented transfer of key technologies and knowledge to PGZ. It enables the PGZ-NAREW Consortium to make more than 1,000 CAMM-ER air defence missiles and over 100 launchers for the NAREW programme in Poland.

NAREW highlights the growing relationship between MBDA and PGZ and provides further evidence of the success of the Strategic Co-operation Agreement signed between the companies in 2017. The technology transfer in NAREW, and associated growth across Polish industries, is unique in the UK-Poland defence partnership and paves the way for deep ties on complex weapons with Poland.

Eric Béranger, CEO of MBDA, said: “The scale and ambition of NAREW is truly impressive – building a Polish air defence shield using our CAMM family missiles and iLaunchers that will protect the entirety of Poland’s skies. The transfer of technology in NAREW will be transformative for Poland’s sovereign complex weapons capabilities, and we are deeply proud of the trust placed in us by Poland and excited for the future of our partnership with the eleven members of the PGZ-NAREW Consortium.”

NAREW is the latest in a series of air defence projects utilising the CAMM missile family that MBDA and PGZ have been jointly contracted for in Poland. It follows from the Mała Narew urgent operational requirement contract placed in 2022 and now in service, the PILICA+ short-range air defence system contracted earlier in 2023, work on the MIECZNIK frigate programme, and studies for the future joint development of CAMM-MR. In addition MBDA and PGZ are also co-operating for the OTTOKAR BRZOZA tank destroyer project.