The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland has taken delivery the first series-manufactured examples of the new Poprad anti-aircraft systems, on 31 August.

According to a news report in the Defence24, the Polish military is now taking delivery of the self-propelled Poprad anti-aircraft systems, which based on the AMZ Zubr 4×4 platform.

The Agreement concerning the acquisition of the self-propelled Poprad anti-aircraft systems was signed back in December 2015, by and between the Armament Inspectorate and the manufacturer of the systems – the PIT-RADWAR company, noted at the news report. Value of the agreement has been set at the level of PLN 1.083 billion. It includes delivery of 77 new anti-aircraft systems and customization of 2 systems of the trial batch.

The first units equipped with Poprads have already reached the initial combat readiness status, however, further training is required to obtain full capability. The systems need to be integrated with other elements of the battlespace.

General Stefan Mordacz noted: “Considering the fact that the crew training is conducted at a basic level during the handing off of these systems for use in the units, and assuming that we are in possession of required quantity of missiles, we may say that the first elements that received the POPRAD systems have already attained initial combat readiness. However, one should note that FOC status would be achieved in line with the training programmes, once the whole reconnaissance, strike and command systems are integrated, following the squadron-level training stage.”

The new self-propelled Poprad anti-aircraft systems are armed with four Grom/Piorun launchers and it has been fitted with an optronic sensor with thermal imaging and TV cameras. The Poprad missile system is operated by two crew members, the commander / operator and mechanic / driver. It has four launch tubes and can carry up to eight missiles including four ready-to-fire and four in the boxes. It incorporates a built-in auxiliary power unit (APU) or battery unit.