The ółPZL W-3 Sokół (English: "Falcon") is a medium-size, twin-engine, multipurpose helicopter developed and manufactured by Polish helicopter company PZL-Świdnik, now owned by Leonardo. It was the first helicopter entirely designed and produced in Poland.
Development
Origins
During 1973, work commenced upon what would become the W-3 Sokół at PZL Świdnik; design work was performed by an in-house team led by aeronautical engineer Stanisław Kamiński. A major influence on the design was the perceived demands from both military and civilian aviation across the Soviet Union, which was envisioned to serve as the major operator of the type. On 16 November 1979, the Sokół conducted its maiden flight. Following an intensive test programme, type certification for the helicopter was received from aviation authorities in Poland, Russia, the United States and Germany.
During May 1993, certification of the Sokol to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) FAR Part 29 standards was granted; it was followed by the receipt of German certification during December of that year. During 1985, low rate production of the Sokół commenced. In June 1996, the 100th Sokół was completed by the company.
Huzar derivative
During the 1990s, PZL-Świdnik heavily pursued the development of an envisioned Huzar battlefield helicopter, which was to be based on the airframe of the W-3 Sokol and would have eventually involved the manufacture of 100 such attack helicopters under a tentative $350 million contract for the Polish Army. While the programme was initiated by the company, it was heavily afflicted by repeated setbacks and delays as PZL-Świdnik's financial state worsened as well as the firm often waiting for years for development funds to be issued by the Polish government with which it could formally launch the next phase of development. When a contract for the helicopter's avionics and weapon systems was awarded within a government memorandum of understanding (MoU) to an Israeli consortium, consisting of armaments manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and defense electronics company Elbit Systems, making them the intended supplier for both the missiles and avionics for the helicopter.
During 1998, the Polish Council of Ministers issued its recommendation for the launch of a new tender in support of the envisioned Huzar. Specifically, the tender sought an avionics and weapons systems integrator for the new rotorcraft, potentially replacing the originally selected Israeli consortium due to alleged irregularities involved in the prior arrangement's awarding. American firm Boeing, who led their own bid involving in excess of 20 separate companies, represented Elbit's chief competitor for the integration contract; at one point, it appeared that political changes to the competition had made Boeing the favourite to win the contract. While Rafael's NT-D anti-tank missile was selected, this was subject to the successful completion of several test launches; if it failed, rival bids from Boeing for the AGM-114 Hellfire, British firm GEC-Marconi with the Brimstone and the Franko-German company Euromissile's HOT 3 missile. The Israeli Government resisted breaking up its consortium for a separate avionics integration contract, stated it would refuse to release the NT-D missile unless it was also awarded the avionics bid, but reportedly softened on this stance.
However, during mid-1999, the Polish government's plans for the Huzar helicopter were entirely abandoned, effectively ending development of the derivative immediately. In its place, a smaller fleet of W-3 Sokol, modified for the support role, was to be adopted in the short term instead. Invitations for bids for the upgrading of 50 rotorcraft, including the adoption of new rotor blades, more powerful engines, extra fuel tanks and additional armaments, was issued thereafter. At the time, Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek stated that, for the long term requirement, a new tender for attack helicopter was to be issued by the end of June that year, and "we expect a decision in October or November"; the envisioned competition was to be contested by the Italian Agusta A129 Mangusta, the American Bell AH-1W/Z Super Cobra and Boeing AH-64 Apache, the European Eurocopter Tiger and South African Denel Rooivalk attack helicopters. Poland ultimately chose to pursue a relatively modest stopgap plan to upgrade its existing Mil Mi-24 fleet with Israeli-built equipment.