Not only Lockheed Martin plans to increase arms production, such as ATGM missiles FGM-148 Javelin , Polish company Mesko, manufacturer of Piorun MANPADS (Polish: “Thunderbolt”), which have performed very well in Ukraine, announced a threefold increase in production, from 300 to 1,000 units per year.

This increase will be gradual. In 2022 the company plans to supply 600 missiles, and in 2023 is going to reach volumes of 1,000 units per year. MANPADS are planned to be purchased by the US Army, presumably for training or transfer to Ukraine, and by the Polish Army, which needs to replenish supplies. In addition, we are talking about several new customers. Interestingly, the Polish army had only 420 Piorun launchers and 1,300 missiles delivered to them in 2019-2020, which is a really significant increase in production.

By the way, Mesko is preparing for the start of licensed production of the Israeli Spike LR2. Prior to that, Mesko produced the previous version of the Spike LR1 ATGM. Among other interesting projects of Mesko – a joint Polish-Ukrainian Pirat ATGM, created by Mesko and Luch Design Bureau on the basis of Corsar ATGM.

In fact, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has increased the demand for weapons around the world. The armies of many countries are planning to rearm, taking into account the experience of this war. Weapons manufacturers are preparing to increase production and increase orders. In addition, some countries have emptied their arsenals to support Ukraine, and the gap needs to be filled. War is a very expensive “entertainment” and every day it burns, in most cases, literally a ton of money.

But what do you do if someone can’t stay within their own boundaries, they need to be put in place.

Piorun MANPADS specifications
Set weight – 16.5 kg
Missile weight – 10.5 kg
Warhead weight – 1.82 kg
Missile length – 1596 mm
Missile diameter – 72 mm
Maximum speed of the missile – 660 m/s
Maximum speed of hit targets:
meeting rate – 400 m/s
pursuit rate – 320 m / s
Minimum / maximum range of hitting targets – 400-6500 m
Minimum / maximum height of target’s destruction – 10-4000 m
Guidance system – infrared