Aerospace manufacturer PZL Mielec has won a contract worth $30.4 million to provide M28 Block 05 Skytruck aircraft transport aircraft to the Nepalese Army Air Wing. Work will be performed in Mielec, Poland, and is expected to be completed by April 30, 2025. This contract provides for two new, commercially produced M28 Block 05 aircraft, associated aircraft training, spare parts package, medical equipment, six months of field service representative services, and ferry flight service for the M28 Block 05 aircraft from Mielec, Poland, to Kathmandu, Nepal. The aircraft were ordered under a U.S. Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program.

The M28 Skytruck is capable of high-altitude Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) and is ideal for Nepal’s high-altitude short runway environments, as it only requires less than 500 meters of runway length. The aircraft were ordered under a U.S. Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program.

PZL M28 Skytruck Light Transport Aircraft
The PZL M28 Skytruck is a Polish STOL light cargo and passenger plane produced by PZL Mielec, as a development of license-built Antonov An-28 aircraft. The M28 is a twin-engine high-wing aircraft, featuring an all-metal airframe, twin vertical fins, and a retractable tricycle landing gear. If one engine fails, a special spoiler on the aileron opens, automatically lowering the wing on the non-functioning engine side. M28 multi-mission aircraft can be deployed in troop and cargo transport, med-evac, maritime patrol, and reconnaissance missions. Skytruck can also be used for paradrop equipment or small in-filtration teams.

PZL M28 Block 05 Skytruck is a maritime patrol and SAR variant for the Polish Border Guard, of 2006, equipped with Selex and Surveillance Radar System (ARS-400M) and FLIR system. Interest in marketing the PZL M28 Block 05 Skytruck has increased after Lockheed Martin acquired Sikorsky, which owns the PZL Mielec factory in Poland. Apart from the M28, PZL Mielec also manufactures the Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk. PZL Mielec, formerly WSK-Mielec and WSK “PZL-Mielec,” is a Polish aerospace manufacturer based in Mielec. It is the largest aerospace manufacturer in southeastern Poland. In 2007, it was acquired by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, which retained the brand name.