Poland has formulated plans for the modernization of its Soviet-legacy fleet of Mil Mi-24 “Hind” attack helicopters. The aim is to reach out to potential vendors from July through September with Requests for Information (RFIs) in the hopes of winnowing down the best possible solution to extend the service lives of these aging helicopters.
The Polish Land Forces’ current inventory consists of a mix of Mi-24s procured from the former Soviet Union beginning in 1979, plus supplementary units provided from legacy former East German stocks and sold to Poland in 1995 by Germany at the symbolic cost of a single deutschmark. Two of these German Mi‑24Ds were immediately cannibalized for spare parts.
Since that time, Poland has mothballed around a third of its Mi-24 fleet with the intention of procuring a new fleet of attack helicopters (32 units) under the so‑called Kruk (Raven) program. The Boeing AH-64 Apache and Bell AH-1Z Viper are considered likely options to win the Kruk bid.
In parallel to the Kruk procurement program, Poland has sought to modernize the Mi-24 fleet in order to retain the helicopters in service through at least 2022, when the first new-build models would ostensibly arrive. The modernization initiative is aimed at improving the weaponry on the Mi-24s while ensuring that a capability gap does not emerge during the Kruk acquisition period.
Dan Darling is Forecast International’s director of military and defense markets. In this role, Dan oversees a team of analysts tasked with covering everything from budgeting to weapons systems to defense electronics and military aerospace. Additionally, for over 17 years Dan has, at various times, authored the International Military Markets reports for Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
Dan's work has been cited in Defense News, Real Clear Defense, Asian Military Review, Al Jazeera, and Financial Express, among others, and he has also contributed commentary to The Diplomat, The National Interest and World Politics Review. He has been quoted in Arabian Business, the Financial Times, Flight International, The New York Times, Bloomberg and National Defense Magazine.
In addition, Dan has made guest appearances on the online radio show Midrats and on The Media Line, as well as The Red Line Podcast, plus media appearances on France 24 and World Is One News (WION).
