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. In the late 1980s, PZL started developing a new aircraft intended to combine high manoeuvrability, short take-off and landing (STOL) performance, and the ability to carry a 2,000 kg payload while remaining a low-cost platform to procure and to operate. Original designs for the aircraft revolved around a twin-turboprop engine. At one point, the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67A engine was selected to power the type. However, the proposal was radically changed following a decision to submit it to a requirement issued for Polish Air Force which sought a light strike and battlefield support aircraft; accordingly, the payload was doubled and the speed was raised dramatically. The revised design was instead powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305 turbofan engines. Named the Skorpion, it featured a fuselage afterbody that was blended into the wing along with a set of small canards behind the cockpit. In June 1994, the Polish Ministry of Defense announced that the Skorpion programme would receive no further funding from the Polish government. The abrupt withdrawal of support after having been recognised two years earlier as a government-approved programme was widely attributed to the formation of a new left-wing Polish government led by Waldemar Pawlak. Despite fears that this was the programme's end, PZL decided to initially continue with development independently. By late 1994, according to the aircraft's chief designer, Andrzej Frydrychewicz, the aerodynamic configuration of the Skorpion, with the exception of the tail, had been frozen. As of its 1994 redesign, performance estimates for the Skorpion included a maximum level speed of 540 kn (1,000 km/h), a 32,800 ft (10,000 m) service ceiling and a 300 km (160 nmi) combat radius. By December 1994, the stealth characteristics of the aircraft had been deemphasised. According to the company's estimates, the official development cost was promoted as being 11,500 billion złotys ($65 million). However, Frydrychewicz speculated that this figure was relatively optimistic and may have been produced with political interests in mind.
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. Early on, the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67A turboprop engine was selected to power the type; these were to be mounted in a pusher configuration on either side of the rear fuselage. Reportedly, at this point in development, the majority of the proposed aircraft's technology was to be derived from PZL Okecie's earlier PZL-130 Orlik trainer aircraft. The company chose to submit its design to the Polish Air Force for a light strike and battlefield support aircraft. During the years immediately following the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, the air force's requirement was hotly contested by Poland's various aircraft manufacturers, each of which were eager to secure their uncertain future. A total of three rival concepts, ranging from radical to relatively conservative and with varying degrees of international participation. Upon its selection to meet the Polish Air Force's strike requirement, the design underwent a radical redesign in order to meet the various performance attributes specified, leading to it becoming a considerable faster aircraft capable of carrying up to double the original design's weapons payload. The Skorpion was soon recognised as a Government-approved programme, which was viewed as a close step towards receiving state funding to support its development. By late 1992, PZL Okecie was displaying a fullscale mock-up of the Skorpion. By this point, it had been redesigned for a second time with the engines now mounted inside fairings in the wing while other features, such as fly-by-wire and stealth characteristics, had also been incorporated. Aspects of the Skorpion were viewed as being relatively advanced elements for a company who had previously specialised in the production of agricultural and utility aircraft. The subsequent redesigned aircraft was powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305 turbofan engines, rated at 23.2 kN (5,200 lbf) thrust; however, as the design continued to be developed, the PW305 engine was later determined to be incapable of producing sufficient levels of thrust. Following its revision, the Skorpion was powered by a pair of Honeywell LF 507 turbofan engines; these were to be mounted upon pylons positioned on top of the rear fuselage and between the aircraft's twin tailfins in a side by side configuration.
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