Tender bid to be announced soon to supply government with official planes

The government has decided to immediately begin preparations for a tender to buy executive jets for official use. If the $100 million contract is signed by the end of June, the first new planes could be delivered as early as next year. During his visit at the Swidnin airbase Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski, said that the government urgently needs six new airplanes to replace the ageing Jak-40 aircraft, some of which are almost 30 years old. The Jak-40 planes, originally built in Russia, have experienced many technical problems. Some of them will be overhauled until they are replaced by new planes, but nine of them will be taken out of service due to their poor technical state. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A6) M.T.K.