As was announced on a press conference in Swidnik the contract was signed on July 30. Under the deal, the Polish aircraft plant will produce Tomcat fuselage elements. The first delivery is expected early next year.

This is the first contract signed by the U.S. army with a former Soviet block plant. "It is significant as we are making the first step on the huge market of U.S. army purchases, and we are the first to do so in this part of the world," PZL Swidnik head Mieczyslaw Majewski said.

Head of the U.S. Navy co-operation programme with PZL Swidnik Czes Covington said that the U.S army used one hundred F-14 Tomcat aircraft at present and the contract with the Swidnik plant might be broadened to include deliveries of parts for all these planes. "The deal also foresees possibility to expand co-operation in part deliveries to other U.S. Navy aircraft," Covington added.