PGZ Invests 28 Million Zloty in WSK PZL-Kalisz Engine Plant

Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) has signed an agreement to inject 28,028,660 zloty of its own funds into WSK PZL-Kalisz, the Kalisz-based manufacturer of aircraft engines and precision mechanical parts. The deal was signed on 29 October. The goal is to turn the plant into a key centre for engines serving Poland's defence industry.

What the money will buy

According to the company's statement, the investment will cover machining, heat treatment and quality control departments. The plant will replace part of its worn-out equipment with new machines, including planers, milling machines and lathes, some of them automated. Management admits the current machine fleet has become a serious constraint: breakdowns of older machines cause unplanned downtime, and capacity does not always allow every order to be filled.

Plant president Krzysztof Nosal said the upgrade should take about a year. It does not mean a new engine production line will start right away. Instead, it strengthens the existing technological base, particularly for precision gears and other parts used in aviation, the military and civilian industry.

Engines for military Jelcz trucks

The longer-term plan is more ambitious. On 9 September, at the International Defence Industry Exhibition in Kielce, Jelcz, WSK PZL-Kalisz and Germany's Daimler Truck AG agreed to cooperate on launching licensed production of engines for military trucks in Poland. Jelcz is expanding its Miłoszyce and Racibórz plants to build more than 2,000 specialised vehicles a year, used among other things as platforms for Patriot, HIMARS and Homar-K systems.

That scale raises demand for engines, transmissions and other drivetrain parts, and importing them risks delays when many arms makers compete for the same components. Licensed production in Kalisz could ease the problem. It would not mean full technological independence, since the designs would remain based on the German manufacturer's licence, but Poland would gain more control over production, assembly and availability.

The plant has more than 70 years of experience with aircraft engines and is the only maker of the ASz-62IR family used in the An-2 and M-18 Dromader. In 2025 it showed a 37 hp PZL-25 Twin Boxer prototype. Still, building an engine centre remains only a plan, and serial production for heavy military vehicles will require further investment, technology transfer and production agreements.