Poland eyes 1,400 new fighting vehicles to replace Soviet-era rides

WARSAW, Poland — In a major push to modernize the Polish land forces’ tracked vehicle fleet, Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak today signed a deal with a consortium led by Huta Stalowa Wola, a subsidiary of Poland’s defense giant PGZ, to acquire some 1,400 Borsuk (Badger) infantry fighting vehicles.

“The approval of our contract, the framework contract to order 1,400 Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles for the needs of the Polish military was described by one of the online news services as the largest project of the Polish defense industry in 50 years,” Błaszczak said at the official signing ceremony.

The government is expected to announce pricing information once individual task orders are negotiated with suppliers.

Błaszczak said the military will get the first four vehicles by the end of this year.

The Borsuk is fitted with a ZSSW-30 turret armed with a Mk44 Bushmaster II S 30 mm chain gun. The vehicle also carries a UKM-2000C 7.62 mm machine gun, among other weaponry, according to data from the Polish Ministry of National Defence.

The forthcoming procurement will enable the country’s military to replace its fleet of outdated BWP-1 vehicles, a variant of the Soviet-designed BMP-1. The move comes as Poland is intensifying efforts to replace Warsaw Pact-era gear with new weapons and equipment in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of its neighbor Ukraine.

On the battlefield, the new IFVs are expected to closely cooperate with the South Korean K2 Black Panther tanks Warsaw ordered for the nation’s armed forces last year. In total, the Polish Army is to receive some 1,000 tanks, of which 180 units will be produced by Hyundai Rotem in South Korea, and a further 820 tanks in the K2PL variant are to be jointly manufactured by the two countries’ defense industries. The first batch of the ordered K2s was delivered to Poland in late 2022.

In addition to South Korean tanks, in the coming years, Poland also intends to base its modern tank fleet on U.S. M1A2 Abrams . Huta Stalowa Wola will lead the industry efforts to develop a second IFV model, which will be heavier than the 28-ton Borsuk, that is specifically meant to cooperate with those tanks, according to Błaszczak.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——为了大力推进波兰陆军履带车辆的现代化，国防部长马里乌什·布瓦什恰克今天与波兰国防巨头PGZ的子公司Huta Stalowa Wola牵头的财团签署了一项协议，采购约1400辆Borsuk（獾）步兵战车。

布瓦什恰克在正式签约仪式上表示：“我们签署的这份框架合同，即为满足波兰军队的需求而订购 1400 辆 Borsuk 步兵战车，被一家在线新闻服务机构描述为波兰国防工业 50 年来最大的项目。”

预计政府将在与供应商就具体任务订单进行谈判后公布定价信息。

布拉什恰克表示，军方将在今年年底前收到首批四辆战车。

根据波兰国防部的数据，博尔苏克装甲车配备了ZSSW-30型炮塔，炮塔上装有一门Mk44“大毒蛇II”型30毫米链式机炮。此外，该车还配备了一挺UKM-2000C型7.62毫米机枪以及其他武器。

即将进行的采购将使波兰军队能够替换其老旧的BWP-1步兵战车，BWP-1是苏联设计的BMP-1步兵战车的改进型。此举正值俄罗斯入侵邻国乌克兰之后，波兰加紧努力用新型武器装备替换华沙条约时代的旧装备之际。

在战场上，这些新型步兵战车预计将与波兰去年订购的韩国K2“黑豹”坦克密切配合。波兰军队总共将接收约1000辆坦克，其中180辆将由韩国现代Rotem公司生产，另外820辆K2PL型坦克将由两国国防工业联合生产。首批订购的K2坦克已于2022年底交付波兰。

除了韩国坦克外，波兰未来几年还计划以美国M1A2艾布拉姆斯主战坦克为基础打造其现代化坦克部队。据布瓦什恰克称，波兰钢铁厂（Huta Stalowa Wola）将牵头研发第二款步兵战车，该战车将比28吨重的“博尔苏克”（Borsuk）更重，专门用于与这些坦克协同作战。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。