On December 22, another two sets of the PSRA Pilica very short range air defense (VSHORAD) anti-aircraft missile and artillery systems for the Polish Air Force 3rd Warsaw Air Defense Missile Brigade were delivered. The contractor for Pilica is the PGZ-PILICA consortium, which consists of the following Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) companies: PIT-Radwar, PCO and Zaklady Mechaniczne Tarnów. In 2015, the in-house tests of the system were completed. On November 24, 2016, a contract worth PLN 746.16 million gross was signed for the delivery of six PSR-A Pilica systems. There are a total of 6 command posts, 36 fire units, 6 radar stations and 60 recovery vehicles, including 36 fire units transport vehicles, 12 transport vehicles and 12 ammunition vehicles.
The PSRA Pilica is a very short-range anti-aircraft system (VSHORAD), which is an element of the lowest layer of air defense in the field of combating unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters, airplanes and cruise missiles at a distance of up to 5000 m, and point protection of important areas or objects. The main task of the system is to cover air bases as a basic system, supplementing the fire zones of missile sets at low altitudes. In the years 2019–2020, training camps were conducted to check the operation of the entire system. On March 30, 2022, the first serial Pilica set was commissioned. Units equipped with the PSR-A Pilica system: the 37th Air Defense Missile Squadron (since 2020) and the 35th Air Defense Missile Squadron (since 2022).
The main armament of the Pilica system is the ZUR-23-2SP Jodek anti-aircraft twin autocannonn consisting of a double anti-aircraft gun with a theoretical rate of fire of 2000 rounds/min and an effective fire range of up to 3 km, combined with two PPZR Piorun missile launchers with a range of 5.5 km. The ZUR-23-2SP Jodek is development of Soviet ZU-23-2 towed 23×152 mm anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannon with more advanced reflex sight. The PPZR Piorun (meaning “thunderbolt” in Polish) is a man-portable air-defense system of Polish production, designed to destroy low-flying aircraft, airplanes, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. The set is a deep modernization of the PPZR Grom set, therefore the second designation of the missile is Grom-M.
A single system (battery) consists of six fire units, each of which consists of the missile and artillery set. Weapon control is fully automatic, using a computerized guidance system. The targeting system is integrated with the tracking system and the IFF system, which is able to block the weapon and stop firing when the target is identified by the IFF system as its own or allied aircraft. The pilica can be operated remotely, and in the event of a power failure, it is also possible to operate the fire effector in manual mode. Each fire unit has its own GOS-1 optoelectronic head, equipped with a thermal imaging camera, TV camera and a laser rangefinder, which enables independent operation in emergency mode. The KMW-1 Teja thermal imaging camera, manufactured by PCO, is used.
