The Agreement has been signed by the Head of the Polish Armament Inspectorate, Brig. General Adam Duda, in presence of the Polish Ministry’s of Defence Secretary of State, Bartosz Kownacki. American Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., a part of the General Dynamics company, is the winning bidder and supplier of the Gulfstream G550 jets. The Armed Forces are going to acquire the jets in a configuration for 16 passengers, while the delivery is to take place on 15th August 2017. 1st Airlift Base in Warsaw is going to become the main user of the said airframes.
The agreement includes delivery of two Gulfstream G550 jets, along with a training and logistics package, technical documentation and operational support. The contract is a tangible result of the procurement procedure which began back in September 2016. The US design competed against the French Dassault Falcon 7X jets. The French offer was rejected due to the fact that the French manufacturer was unable to meet the delivery deadline set by the Polish Ministry of Defence – no later than November 2017. The offer submitted by the Dassault company was also more expensive, as opposed to the one proposed by Gulfstream Aerospace, since its value has exceeded the amount of PLN 454 million.
The funds related to procurement of “small’ and “medium” VIP aircraft have been allocated within a special-purpose reserve, established with the use of a resolution adopted by the Polish Council of Ministers. The said fund includes an amount of PLN 1.7 billion, which is to be spent during the period between 2016 and 2021. The said amount extends the 2% GDP limit referring to the defence expenditure, according to the Act on Reconstruction, Technical Modernization and Financing of the Polish Armed Forces. Should the funds not be used during the given year, they would remain available within the expenditure pool, allowing the Ministry to acquire the VIP jets in the following years.