In 2021, before Piorun MANPADS began shooting down russian aircraft in the hands of Ukrainian Defense Forces personnel, Poland produced only around 300 missiles for the system per year. That figure has now grown to approximately 1,700 missiles annually.
According to Defence24, however, only around 1,500 of those missiles are delivered as combat-ready rounds. The remainder accounts for missiles used in testing and military acceptance procedures, as well as training launches.
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PGZ, which includes Piorun manufacturer Mesko, does not intend to stop there. The company aims to increase annual production to 2,000 missiles, although it has not provided a specific timeline. The expansion of production capacity is being carried out gradually by addressing individual bottlenecks.
The Polish company is also working on a new version of the system, the Piorun 2, which will feature changes to both the missile and the launcher. A full announcement of the development program is expected at the MSPO 2026 defence exhibition, which will take place in Kielce, Poland, from September 8 to 11.
Poland’s Ministry of National Defence is currently not planning to fund the development of the Piorun 2, so the work is being financed by the defence industry. The manufacturer also says that interest in the Piorun is no longer limited to NATO countries.
Defense Express notes that Poland is thus maintaining its position as the largest-scale MANPADS producer in NATO. Production has increased more than fivefold in just a few years, driven both by the system’s battlefield success in Ukraine and growing export orders. At the same time, the ability to deliver Piorun quickly and in large numbers helps Poland secure additional contracts.
It is worth recalling that almost a year ago, Mesko reported producing 1,300 Piorun missiles per year, with the capacity to increase that figure to 1,500. At the time, the U.S. was reportedly producing 720 Stinger missiles per year, while France was producing 480 Mistral missiles annually.
Meanwhile, in 2026, the Polish government said that existing orders for Piorun MANPADS had already exceeded the country’s available production capacity. As a result, Poland has been actively working to expand output, while some Polish sources reported that, with sufficient investment, the country aims to produce 2,500 missiles annually as early as 2028.
There should be no shortage of orders in the foreseeable future. Poland recently signed the largest Piorun contract in the system’s history, covering thousands of missiles to be delivered by 2030. It is highly unlikely that additional orders will not emerge during that period.
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