PZL Mielec
PZL-230 Skorpion (scorpion)

The PZL-230 Skorpion (scorpion) was a proposed Polish low-cost attack aircraft. It was being developed by Polish manufacturer PZL Warszawa-Okecie in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Development and design

Origins and early progress

According to aerospace publication Flight International, the origins of the Skorpion were within an earlier proposal for a twin-turboprop ground-attack aircraft. Reportedly, the Polish initiative had drawn some influence from a study performed by British Aerospace (BAE), known as the Small Agile Battlefield Aircraft, which was to be a relatively manoeuvrable, short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft capable of carrying a 2,000 kg payload. Work commenced on the initiative at Warsaw-based aircraft manufacturer PZL Warszawa-Okecie during 1990. Early on, the company had several objectives for the aircraft, such as for it to be cheap and easy to construct, as well as to modify, the latter of which being accomplish via to its modular design. It also required an ability to take-off and land on a runway of about 250 m in length, travel at speeds of up to 640 km/h, be armed with a 25 mm cannon and be able to carry up to 2,000 kg of both Warsaw Pact and NATO munitions. Later versions were named 'D', and included a 'DT' training aircraft and a 'DB' combat variant.^[]