Sikorsky Aircraft Signs Strategic MOU with PZL Mielec

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp, WARSAW, Poland: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding with the aircraft maker PZL Mielec to negotiate agreements that would establish the company as the assembly center for International Black Hawk helicopters and key helicopter components, the Polish Ministry of Treasury announced today. 
 
US-based Sikorsky Aircraft is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. of Hartford, Connecticut, USA. PZL Mielec is wholly owned by the Industrial Development Agency (known by the Polish acronym ARP), which is a government holding company under the Ministry of Treasury. 
 
Under the MOU signed at a public ceremony here, Sikorsky's strategic investment in PZL Mielec would provide funding for factory improvements and tooling to support assembly of the International Black Hawk helicopter and other helicopter component production. Financial terms of the MOU were not disclosed. 
 
Sikorsky and ARP have agreed to work toward finalizing the terms outlined in the MOU before the end of 2006. The MOU anticipates initial component deliveries in 2008 and International Black Hawk deliveries beginning in 2010. 
 
“Sikorsky is a growing company and we are committed to creating strategic global partnerships with skilled, experienced aerospace companies like PZL Mielec to meet our commitments to customers,” said Sikorsky President Jeffrey Pino. 
 
PZL Mielec is Poland's largest aircraft manufacturer with 1,500 employees and has more than 60 years of aerospace experience. 
 
In July, Sikorsky announced plans to develop an International Black Hawk helicopter variant for global customers that would be built with a global supply chain and delivered from outside the US. 
 
This agreement with PZL Mielec will allow Sikorsky to focus domestic operations on expanding US military helicopter production while ensuring that the company has the necessary capacity and competitive cost structure to manufacture the International Black Hawk for the global market. 
 
“We look forward to working with PZL Mielec and Poland's aviation industry to create the foundation for International Black Hawk assembly and to strengthen our supply chain. With this MOU, two great companies, each with a long, proud history, have taken the first steps toward creating a bright and exciting future together,” Pino said. 
 
UTC through its subsidiaries currently employs more than 7,000 people in Poland in the aerospace and building systems industries. “UTC and Poland have enjoyed a wide range of productive business relationships over the past three decades. UTC and Sikorsky are committed to building upon that success with PZL Mielec,” Pino said.  
 
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, based in Stratford, Conn., is a world leader in helicopter design, manufacturing, and service. United Technologies Corp., based in Hartford, Conn., provides a broad range of high-technology products and support services to the aerospace and building systems industries.