The design of the SW-4 helicopter originates from the 1960s, during which period it was decided against proceeding to production with the SW-4 due to demand for military helicopters from various nations within the Warsaw Pact. Around 1981, development work at PZL-Swidnik was started on a new four/five place light utility helicopter. The original design for the SW-4 called for it to be powered by a 300 kW (400 shp) PZL Rzeszow GTD350 turboshaft engine, as featured upon the prototype mockup. According to PZL-Swidnik, the early SW-4 could reach the rated top speed of about 240 km/h (130 kn) and a max range with auxiliary fuel tank about 900 km (485 nmi).