The Piorun MANPADS, or Man-Portable Air-Defence System, made in Poland is scoring well. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have used the Polish system, Norway has deployed the system it bought, and the profits are on the rise. But manufacturer Mesko in Central Poland has trouble beefing up its production.
In a year time, Mesko increased its profit from EUR 14 million to EUR 56.4 million, according to the annual numbers released by the company on 12 February 2025. But according to journalists of the Polish quality newspaper Rzeczpospolita, production fall short of Mesko’s ambitions. The 3000th Piorun came off the production line in Skarżysko-Kamienna, located between the cities of Kielce and Radom. But Mesko had planned to deliver 1,000 units per year, with a further increase to 2,000 in the plans. Instead, the numbers stay below 1,000 units, according to Rzeczpospolita.
Poland ordered Piorun 4,800 missiles
Poland ordered 600 Piorun launchers, as well as up to 4,800 missiles, but the production increase delays at Mesko has put deliveries behind schedule. It is estimated that the Polish Armed Forces currently have between 1,500 and 2,000 missiles.
Deployed alongside the border with Russia
The year 2024 did see the deployment of the Piorun in Norway. The Scandinavian country bought several hundreds of the shoulder-launched anti-air missile, and the first were deployed alongside the border with Russia in the Finnmark region in the past year. Estonia was to receive 100 launchers and 300 missiles, and the system is believed to reach full operational capability in 2025.
Shooting down Russian helicopters
Smaller batches have been delivered, are ordered or requested by Latvia (14 launchers, 70 missiles), Slovakia (36 launchers, unknown number of missiles), Lithuania (ordered in October), Georgia and the United States. Ukraine received an undisclosed number of Pioruns from the Polish Armed Forces in 2022, and the systems were reportedly successful in shooting down Russian helicopters and aircraft at the Eastern front.
The Piorun (meaning Thunderbolt in Polish) can hit low-flying drones, helicopters, aircraft and some missiles up to 4 kilometres high at a distance up to 6.5 kilometres. | © 2025 Marcel Burger, nordicreporter.com. Featured photo of field trials in Norway in August 2024 (Press photo: Mesko)