PGZ selects BAE Systems as strategic partner to boost Polish 155 mm ammo production
Peter Felstead
Poland’s Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (Polish Armaments Group – PGZ) has selected BAE Systems for a strategic partnership to establish a new 155 mm artillery ammunition manufacturing facility in Poland, the two companies announced on 12 September 2025.
PGZ had considered various partners to help it increase Poland’s capacity to produce battlefield ammunition, but chose BAE Systems following a multi-stage bid verification process.
“The analysis considered several aspects, including three main selection criteria: production sovereignty, technological solutions, and price,” PGZ stated on its website. “The offer submitted by BAE Systems proved to be the most advantageous in the context of the selection criteria, national security, and the future development of PGZ’s ammunition domain potential. BAE Systems’ offer fully met the requirements defined during the partner selection process. It is an open-ended contract with a 40-year notice period.”
Under the partnership BAE Systems will transfer technology and know-how to PGZ, including automated manufacturing technology that is already being implemented in the UK to deliver a sixteen-fold increase in the production of 155 mm rounds. Construction of 155 mm rounds production facilities in Poland is set to begin this year, with completion expected by 2027/2028, after which Poland is expected to initially achieve a production level of approximately 130,000 rounds per year.
Charles Woodburn, BAE Systems’ chief executive, was quoted in a company press release as stating, “This partnership builds on our existing long-term defence relationship with Poland. Transferring technology and learning will enable Poland to significantly expand its production capacity of critical 155 mm munitions, helping to strengthen its industrial base and supply chain resilience in the face of an increasingly volatile security environment. This is not only important for Poland’s own national defence but will also help to enhance its contribution to securing NATO’s eastern flank.”
Global demand for artillery ammunition has increased dramatically since 2022 as a result of the war in Ukraine, while plentiful supplies of 155 mm ammunition are critical to the operation of the Polish Land Forces’ K9 and Krab self-propelled howitzers. PGZ ultimately intends to increase its production capacity to between 150,000–180,000 large-calibre shells annually to support the country’s national security requirements.
The partnership between BAE Systems and PGZ can also be seen as part of a wider strategic alliance. On 21 December 2017 Poland and the UK signed the ‘Treaty between the Republic of Poland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Cooperation in the Field of Defense and Security’. Projects in the maritime domain and in air and missile defence have also been successfully implemented since then.
Meanwhile, on 15 September the two countries celebrated the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Britain in 1940. During that campaign, to defeat an aerial offensive against the UK by the Luftwaffe, Poland was the greatest international contributor of pilots, adding 145 to the Royal Air Force (RAF) at a point when it crucially needed them. The RAF’s No 303 Squadron, which was one of two Polish squadron that fought during the Battle of Britain, was rated the highest-scoring fighter squadron of the battle, with 126 kills.
