Poland Is Building a Nationwide Fleet of Drone-Response Fire Trucks And Split the Order by Operating System, Not Geography

Standfirst

Twenty three separate Polish fire authorities, from national headquarters down to district commands and training academies, have jointly secured 21 specialised vehicles for their drone response units. The entire order went to a single Polish manufacturer, Bocar, but the more interesting decision is how the tender itself was split: not by region, but by whether each vehicle's onboard drone control workstation runs Windows or macOS.

Introduction

When a wildfire breaks out in a remote forest or a building collapses and rescue teams need to map the site before sending anyone inside, Poland's State Fire Service increasingly turns to drones. Behind every one of those flights sits unglamorous but essential infrastructure: a specially fitted vehicle carrying the drone, its charging and maintenance equipment and an onboard operator workstation running the software that plans, controls and monitors the flight. Poland's fire service has just placed a nationwide order for 21 of these vehicles, procured jointly by 23 separate fire authorities spanning the entire country.

Led by Komenda Główna Państwowej Straży Pożarnej, the State Fire Service's national headquarters, acting as the authorised agent for all 23 participating buyers, the tender was split into two parts based on a detail with nothing to do with geography: which computer operating system each vehicle's drone control station needs to run. Fourteen vehicles will be built with Windows based operator stations; seven with macOS based stations. Both parts were won by the same company, Przedsiębiorstwo Specjalistyczne "Bocar", a Polish vehicle manufacturer based near Częstochowa with more than three decades of experience building fire and rescue vehicles.

Why This Contract Matters

Drone units have become a genuinely important part of modern firefighting and disaster response, mapping wildfire perimeters from the air, assessing structural damage before rescue teams enter a building, searching for missing persons across terrain too large or dangerous to cover on foot. None of that capability works reliably without a dedicated, properly equipped vehicle to transport, charge and operate the drones from, which is exactly what this contract delivers to fire authorities across Poland, from major cities to rural districts.

The tender's operating system based split is also worth understanding on its own terms, because it says something important about how specialised equipment procurement actually works in practice. The notice is explicit that the Windows/macOS division exists purely to preserve compatibility with software, hardware, operating procedures, configuration files, administrative tools and training systems the fire service's drone groups already use, not to favour one computer manufacturer over another. It is a reminder that technical continuity with an existing, trained, operational system can matter just as much as the vehicle itself.

Contract Timeline

Contract Overview

Komenda Główna Państwowej Straży Pożarnej ran an open procedure under Article 132 of Poland's Public Procurement Law, acting as the authorised representative for 23 separate fire service buyers across the country, to secure 21 specialist vehicles equipped for the State Fire Service's Specialised Drone Groups (Specjalistyczne Grupy Dronowe, referred to in the notice as SLUAV units). The tender was split into two lots based on the operating system used in each vehicle's onboard operator workstation: Lot 1 covered 14 vehicles with Windows based stations; Lot 2 covered 7 vehicles with macOS based stations. Both lots were evaluated purely on price and both were won by Przedsiębiorstwo Specjalistyczne "Bocar" Spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością.

Lot 1 drew eight electronic tenders, five of them from micro, small or medium sized enterprises; Lot 2 drew nine electronic tenders, six from SMEs, a genuinely well contested field for both parts of the competition, with no bids received from tenderers registered outside Poland in either lot.

Key Contract Details

Lot by lot results

Project Scope

The contract covers supply and full equipping of 21 specialist vehicles for Poland's Specialised Drone Groups, including the vehicle bodywork and an onboard operator workstation with computers configured for either the Windows or macOS operating system, depending on the lot. Each workstation must be fully compatible with the software used to plan, control and monitor unmanned aircraft flights and must integrate with the communications and data transmission systems the State Fire Service's drone groups already rely on operationally.

The notice explicitly states the reasoning behind the Windows/macOS split: the requirement exists to preserve compatibility with existing software, hardware, operational procedures, configuration files, administrative tools and training solutions used by the fire service's specialist drone units and is structured to ensure interoperability, safety, continuity of operations and immediate readiness for use, not to favour any specific manufacturer. All 21 vehicles must be delivered and ready no later than 15 December 2026.

About the Contracting Authority

Komenda Główna Państwowej Straży Pożarnej, the State Fire Service's national headquarters based in Warsaw, acted as the authorised representative preparing and running this procurement on behalf of 23 separate fire service buyers across Poland. Those buyers span the full institutional structure of Poland's fire service: national and voivodeship level commands in cities including Wrocław, Toruń, Łódź, Kraków, Warsaw, Katowice, Olsztyn, Szczecin, Białystok and Gdańsk; district level commands in smaller localities such as Świdnik, Słubice, Krapkowice, Czarnków, Przeworsk and Jędrzejów; and national fire service training institutions including the Fire Academy (Akademia Pożarnicza) and specialist NCO and officer training schools in Poznań, Częstochowa, Bydgoszcz and Kraków. Running this procurement centrally, rather than requiring each of the 23 authorities to tender separately, reflects a deliberate administrative efficiency choice consistent with how Poland's fire service has structured other national scale equipment procurement.

About the Organisations Involved

Przedsiębiorstwo Specjalistyczne "Bocar" Sp. z o.o., Winning Tenderer

Bocar, based in Korwinów near Częstochowa and classified as a medium sized enterprise, has manufactured specialist vehicles and vehicle bodywork for Poland's fire and rescue services since 1992. The company reports building close to 100 specialist vehicles annually, spanning firefighting and rescue vehicles, technical, chemical and water rescue vehicles, specialist trailers and custom bodywork for particular operational needs, built on chassis from established international manufacturers. Bocar's more than three decades of continuous experience supplying Poland's fire service, including prior contracts with regional fire commands such as Wrocław's, positions it as an established, trusted incumbent for exactly this category of specialised public safety vehicle procurement.

Krajowa Izba Odwoławcza, Review Organisation

Poland's National Appeals Chamber, based in Warsaw, is the designated review body for this procurement, providing the formal legal channel through which any of the unsuccessful bidders across either lot could challenge the award, consistent with standard Polish public procurement review procedures.

Procurement Analysis

Running this tender as a single, centrally coordinated procedure on behalf of 23 separate fire authorities, rather than requiring each to procure independently, reflects a now well established pattern in Polish public safety equipment purchasing: consolidating demand across many smaller buyers into a single national competition to secure better terms and reduce administrative duplication. The specific split between Lot 1 and Lot 2, based entirely on operating system compatibility rather than geography or vehicle specification, is a genuinely instructive procurement design choice: rather than forcing every participating fire authority onto a single, uniform IT platform, the tender preserved two parallel operator environments, reflecting the reality that different drone groups within the same national fire service have already standardised on different systems for their existing software, training and operational procedures.

Competitive intensity was healthy across both lots, eight tenders for the larger, 14 vehicle Windows lot and nine for the smaller, 7 vehicle macOS lot, with a majority of bidders in each case coming from Polish SMEs. That the same company, Bocar, won both lots outright suggests either particularly strong pricing and technical competitiveness across both specifications or a genuine scarcity of alternative Polish manufacturers capable of meeting the fire service's technical requirements for this specific, specialised vehicle category at competitive cost.

The contract's procurement documentation also includes an unusual clause worth noting: Komenda Główna Państwowej Straży Pożarnej reserves the right to cancel the procurement if public funds intended to finance it are not ultimately granted, a standard safeguard clause under Polish procurement law for contracts dependent on budget allocations not yet fully secured at the time of tender.

Additional Procurement Facts

No tenders were received from bidders registered outside Poland for either lot, reflecting either a genuinely domestic focused market for this specific vehicle category or a natural preference among bidders for established local manufacturing and after sales support relationships with Poland's fire service. Bocar's winning tenders for both lots disclosed no subcontracting. The procurement carries no EU funding and is confirmed as covered by the WTO Government Procurement Agreement.

Market & Industry Perspective

Poland's market for specialist fire and rescue vehicles is served by a mix of domestic manufacturers and international chassis suppliers, with companies like Bocar building custom bodywork and equipment fit outs onto chassis from established global truck and van manufacturers. Bocar's more than three decade track record and reported annual production of close to 100 specialist vehicles positions it as one of the more established Polish manufacturers in this specific market segment, competing for both routine firefighting vehicle contracts and more specialised categories like this drone support vehicle order.

The healthy field of eight and nine bidders across the two lots, with a majority from Polish SMEs, suggests this remains a genuinely competitive domestic market for specialist vehicle bodywork and equipping, even though the final award in this particular case consolidated around a single winner across both lots.

Economic Significance

At a combined value of PLN 26,536,020 (approximately €6.2 million) for 21 vehicles, this is a substantial national investment in Poland's fire service drone response capability, reflecting the growing role unmanned aerial systems play in modern firefighting, search and rescue and disaster assessment operations. For Bocar, winning both lots outright represents a significant contract, extending its established relationship with Poland's fire service into this newer, technologically specialised vehicle category.

Future Procurement Opportunities

Given the tight completion deadline of 15 December 2026, this specific order represents a near term, time bound delivery commitment rather than a multi year framework, meaning any further expansion of Poland's fire service drone vehicle fleet would likely require a separate future tender. Suppliers of drone technology, onboard IT systems and vehicle equipment compatible with either the Windows or macOS operator environments described in this notice should watch for related future procurement as Poland's fire service drone capability continues to expand.

Opportunities for Suppliers

Manufacturers and technology providers specialising in vehicle mounted operator workstations, drone control software and communications integration systems should note the fire service's explicit preservation of two parallel IT environments (Windows and macOS) across its drone unit fleet, a detail suggesting genuine, ongoing demand for equipment and software compatible with both platforms as this vehicle category continues to expand across Poland's fire service. Smaller Polish vehicle bodywork and equipment manufacturers should also note the strong SME participation in both lots of this tender, indicating a genuinely accessible competitive field even though a single established incumbent ultimately won both parts.

What Businesses Should Watch

Two things are worth tracking following this award. First, whether Poland's fire service issues further tenders expanding its drone unit vehicle fleet beyond this initial 21 vehicle order, as unmanned aerial systems become a more established part of its operational toolkit nationwide. Second, whether the Windows/macOS operator environment split seen in this tender becomes a recurring structural feature of future Polish public safety vehicle procurement, as other emergency services agencies potentially adopt similar dual platform compatibility requirements.

PolandTenders.com Procurement Intelligence

This notice is a clear, well documented example of how large scale public safety procurement increasingly has to account for pre existing, deeply embedded technology ecosystems, not just the vehicles or hardware being purchased. Splitting a 21 vehicle order by operating system rather than by region or vehicle specification reflects Poland's fire service explicitly protecting its existing investment in software, training and operational procedures already built around two distinct computing environments, a genuinely instructive approach for any large, multi unit public safety organisation managing a technology transition or expansion across many semi autonomous local units simultaneously.

The nationwide, 23 buyer coordination structure behind this tender is also worth recognising as a broader model: rather than each of Poland's district, city and national fire authorities running separate, smaller competitions for a genuinely specialised and relatively low volume vehicle category, consolidating demand into a single national tender run by the State Fire Service's own headquarters likely secured considerably more competitive pricing and technical assurance than 23 separate procurements could have achieved independently.

For suppliers and market observers tracking European public safety and emergency response procurement, this notice is a useful reminder that drone support infrastructure, the vehicles, charging systems and operator workstations behind a fire service's unmanned aerial capability, represents a genuinely growing category of investment, worth watching as more European emergency services expand their own drone response capabilities in the coming years.

Supplier Takeaways

• Large, multi buyer public safety procurement increasingly reflects existing technology ecosystems (as with the Windows/macOS split here) rather than treating every unit as a blank slate, understanding a buyer's established IT environment matters as much as the core equipment specification.
• Consolidating demand from many smaller public buyers into a single, centrally run national tender, as Poland's fire service did across 23 separate authorities here, is an increasingly common and effective model for specialised, lower volume equipment categories.
• Strong SME participation across both lots of this tender (a majority of bidders in each case) indicates a genuinely accessible competitive field for smaller Polish vehicle manufacturers, even where an established incumbent ultimately wins.
• Drone support vehicle infrastructure is a growing procurement category across European emergency services; suppliers of compatible onboard IT systems and drone control software should watch for further related tenders.
• Tight completion deadlines (five months from contract conclusion here) are a standard feature of urgent public safety equipment procurement and should be priced and planned for accordingly by competing suppliers.

Key Takeaways

• Poland's State Fire Service, coordinated nationally by its headquarters on behalf of 23 separate fire authorities, awarded a combined PLN 26,536,020 (approximately €6.2 million) contract for 21 specialist drone unit vehicles to Przedsiębiorstwo Specjalistyczne "Bocar" Sp. z o.o.
• The tender was split into two lots based on operating system (Windows for 14 vehicles, macOS for 7), purely to preserve compatibility with existing drone group software, training and procedures.
• Both lots were won by the same company and drew a genuinely competitive field, 8 and 9 tenders respectively, with a majority from Polish SMEs.
• All 21 vehicles must be delivered by 15 December 2026, within five months of contract conclusion.
• The contract carries no EU funding and is covered by the WTO Government Procurement Agreement.

Conclusion

Twenty three fire authorities, one national tender and a decision to split the order by computer operating system rather than by region, this contract is a small but genuinely instructive example of how public safety procurement has to bend around the practical realities of equipment already deployed in the field. Poland's fire service now has a firm December deadline and a single, established manufacturer building the vehicles that will carry its growing drone response capability into stations across the country.

Source: EU Official Journal, Contract Award Notice 518725-2026, OJ S 142/2026, published 27/07/2026. Contracting authority: Komenda Główna Państwowej Straży Pożarnej, on behalf of 23 Polish fire service authorities.