Rumours of deadline for Polish multirole aircraft bids extended at the request of one of the bidding companies

Published: 7/8/1999

The deadline for the Polish multirole fighter bid submissions has been extended due to a request from one of the bidding companies, according to Concise's sources in Warsaw. There has not been any official announcement as yet, but apparently one of US competitors asked to have the deadline extended by two weeks. The suggestion is that the company may be Boeing, as it is attempts to get permission to offer its newest F-18E/Fs along with the older C/D variants. Opinion in Poland has suggested to date that there are only two real competitors in the competition, the F-16 and Saab/Bae Gripen, however recent reports on Polish TV suggest that Dassault may try to add the Rafale in a package with the already declared Mirage 2000-5 Mk2 to make its bid more competitive. The companies approached for the other two bids for VIP aircraft and attack helicopters met their entry deadline on the June 30th 1999.

Article ID: 663