A robust and flexible defence industry contributes to strengthening military readiness across the Alliance. NATO countries are increasing defence investments and expanding production capacity to ensure the supply meets demand.
PZL Mielec is one of the largest aircraft and helicopter manufacturers in Poland, owned by Lockheed Martin, and the largest Lockheed Martin production facility outside the United States.
For almost 90 years, the facility has been designing, manufacturing and servicing aircraft and helicopters, and today is a producer of the iconic Black Hawk helicopter and components for the F-16 fighter jet.
Footage inside the factory showing the production of various helicopter and jet components as well as interviews with a worker and the President of PZL Mielec.
SHOTLIST
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(00:00) WORKER ADJUSTS BOLTS ON THE BLADES OF AN S-70i BLACK HAWK
(00:10) CLOSE UP - WORKER ADJUSTS BOLTS ON THE BLADES OF AN S-70i BLACK HAWK
(00:15) CLOSE UP - WORKER ADJUSTS BOLTS ON THE BLADES OF AN S-70i BLACK HAWK
(00:19) WIDE SHOT - WORKER ADJUSTS BOLTS ON THE BLADES OF AN S-70i BLACK HAWK ON PRODUCTION LINE
(00:32) WIDE SHOT - S-70i BLACK HAWK ON PRODUCTION LINE
(00:37) PAN DOWN TO S-70i BLACK HAWK ON PROUDCTIN LINE X3
(00:52) CLOSE UP – WORKER HAMMERING BOLTS ON S-70i BLACK HAWK
(00:57) CLOSE UP – WORKER PLACING BOLTS ON S-70i BLACK HAWK
(01:01) CLOSE UP – WORKERS PLACING BOLTS ON S-70i BLACK HAWK
(01:06) CLOSE UP – WORKER CLEANING S-70i BLACK HAWK
(01:09) CLOSE UP – WORKER HAMMERING BOLTS ON S-70i BLACK HAWK
(01:14) CLOSE UP – WORKER PAINTING BOLTS ON S-70i BLACK HAWK
(01:20) VARIOUS SHOTS - F16 CHASSIS ON PRODUCTION LINE
(01:26) VARIOUS SHOTS - WORKER CHECKING F-16 CHASSIS X2
(01:36) CLOSE UP – INSIDE F-16 CHASSIS
(01:40) VARIOUS SHOTS - INSIDE F-16 CHASSIS
(02:00) VARIOUS SHOTS – WORKER INSIDE F-16 CHASSIS
(02:06) WIDE SHOT – F-16 PRODUCTION LINE
(02:12) VARIOUS SLOW MOTION SHOTS – NO AUDIO - S-70i BLACK HAWK ON A FLIGHT TEST
(02:50) PZL MIELEC LOGO
(02:55) SLOW MOTION SHOT – NO AUDIO - S-70i BLACK HAWK ON A FLIGHT TEST
(03:00) S-70i BLACK HAWK ON A FLIGHT TEST
(03:07)
SOUNDBITE IN POLISH, Witold Śpiewak, Technical Section Manager, F16 program PZL Mielec
‘My name is Witold Śpiewak, and I am the Technical Section Manager of the F-16 programme at PZL Mielec. Together with my team, we support the production of F-16 structures by solving day-to-day production issues and optimising the manufacturing process.
I graduated from an aviation technical school and later completed aviation studies. I also had the opportunity to fly gliders and obtain a glider pilot license. My entire career path, from a very young age, has been focused on aviation. And now I have the opportunity to work at PZL Mielec on such remarkable aircraft as the F-16 and the Black Hawk helicopter.
I enjoy my work because we work with very unique products. These are aviation legends - the Black Hawk, the F-16, the M28 - truly legendary aircraft. We feel proud whenever we see them in the sky or hear in the news that these aircraft are saving lives.
I believe that anyone can begin their journey in the aviation industry here. It is an ideal place for professional growth. We work with truly outstanding products and alongside people from whom we can gain knowledge and valuable skills. We have access to extensive resources - both advanced machinery and experienced specialists - which allows us to broaden our horizons, grow our expertise and develop our careers.
The things I like most about this job? The fact that it’s never boring. Something is happening all the time - new challenges constantly arise - so there’s no time to just sit back and relax; instead, you have to be dynamic, seek out solutions and look for new things. In my opinion, that dynamism is the coolest part of this job.
I certainly wouldn't say this is a place for artists - it is more a place for meticulous engineers. Every thousandth or hundredth of an inch matters here, so we must focus on the smallest details. There is no room for randomness; everything must be perfect and highly precise.
We certainly feel proud whenever we see our products - whether it is a Black Hawk or an F-16 aircraft in the air. You feel that a part of that aircraft comes from us, and that is truly a wonderful feeling.
I believe this is a job for everyone, both men and women. We can see all around us that women also work here in production, and in some areas they even perform better than men. There is place here both for engineers, because some tasks require very in-depth analysis and calculations, and for people who simply enjoy hands-on work and building things, people who are passionate about what they do and enjoy seeing the final results of their work.’
(06:33) SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH, Janusz Zakręcki, President, PZL Mielec
So PZL Mielec is the largest defence aviation company in Poland. Also PZL Mielec is the largest Lockheed Martin manufacturing facility outside of the United States.
Our company is famous in producing the S-70i Black Hawk. So Black Hawk is, S-70i Black Hawk is the international version of the UH-60 M Black Hawk produced in US.
Also at PZL Mielec, we produce the M28 plane. This is a PZL Mielec designed aircraft.
We support of course our customers. We provide service to the product we, let’s say, deliver to the customers.
Also, we do a lot of collaboration with other aviation companies. Produce, for example, structures for the UH-60 M Black Hawk and deliver directly to the Sikorsky facility in Stratford. So a lot of different production is made here.
We are a Polish company located in Poland. So we have to follow Polish law. We have to follow Polish rules, let's say. We are located in Europe. So we have to also follow European Union law. But also we are American company located in Poland. So we have to also follow the US regulation, and we are very often audited by the Polish authorities, by the US authorities. And we have to, let's say, work together.
We have to work very closely with the Polish defence industry, with Polish end user as well, also with the USend user and the US industry. So also we cooperate with other countries in terms of buying some components but also delivering our products over to them.
We work very closely with, for example, Romania, with Polish Air Force, with US defence, let's say sector, etc. So very unique company in terms of the international activities.
We have to be always ready, let's say, to increase production. And for example, S70-i production line is able to produce much more than we produce right now. Everything is depending on the supply chain. And our work right now is to make sure that we have very strong local supply chain. So our work right now is to identify as many as possible European Union supplier to support our production.
But, so far we have been only the, let's say, the company produce, let's say, flying products, you know. Our new strategy is to diversify our production, to implement some new production to our company, to be able to provide more products to the other NATO countries.
PZL Mielec has a long-lasting aviation history. So the company exists since 1938. So almost 90 years of aviation history here.
At the peak, this place works almost 20,000 people. It was many, many years ago, after the diversification of the production at PZL Mielec. Right now, we employ about 2,000 people.
And because we are a very high-tech company, we have to make sure that we have available, let's say, high-tech, talented people to be able to work in our companies.
So, because of that, we have a very good relationship with the local universities. Also, we cooperate with the many other universities located in other places, because this is very unique region.
Maybe not every everybody is aware, but in this region we have created almost 20 years ago cluster name ‘Aviation Valley’. This is about over 30 different companies.
Big one, small one. Big one, for example, like, these like PZL Mielec, Pratt & Whitney, like Leonardo, like Airbus, many, many others, you know, and sometimes daily we are competing with each other.
But under this organisation, we work together to make sure that we have, for example, very strong local supply chain. We are working on how to create local supply chain, how to have, let's say, good educated people, etc. So this is very active region in terms of the collaboration between different companies.
From this place we deliver over 2,600 different products to the Polish Airforce, to the other countries. Let's say, it means that that this company is very important in terms of security of this country.
We are in NATO. So security of Poland is also security of the NATO countries. So we are very proud to be a part of that security ecosystem in Poland and in Europe.
The situation in the world forces us to be able to produce more and our location give us an opportunity to produce product for Europe, but also for US.
And I mentioned before that our customers are located in Europe and also in the United States, in many different countries.
What about increasing our production? The answer is yes. We are able to increase the production. We are able to provide more products from our company to different countries, different end users. So this is our goal.
So there is no there is no problem for us to even double our production.
PZL Mielec produce S-70i Black Hawk helicopter. S-70i, different name. In the US this is UH-60 M Black Hawk. So S-70i is exactly the same helicopter but produced in Poland by PZL Mielec.
I would say over 5,000 different US Black Hawk helicopters flies around the world you know, this number means a lot.
And this very iconic product is produced at PZL Mielec, produced by the very high-qualified people.
Black hawk is a proven helicopter because it is used by many, many countries.
And this helicopter is produced by PZL Mielec.
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