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 2,000kg 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 has 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.