Romania, Poland take different tacks on buying new combat vehicles

WARSAW, Poland — As numerous Eastern European allies pursue acquisitions of infantry fighting vehicles, Romania and Poland are advancing plans to boost their tracked vehicle fleets, yet with different strategies towards foreign suppliers and technology transfers.

In Romania, the country’s government decided on July 10 to launch its much-awaited program to replace outdated Soviet-times MLI-84 tracked infantry fighting vehicles with new gear. Bucharest aims to purchase some 246 vehicles along with simulators and a logistics package over an eight-year period after a deal is signed, earmarking close to €2.55 billion ($2.96 billion) for this acquisition. In the program’s potential second stage, a further 52 vehicles could be ordered.

Local observers say Romanian Ministry of National Defence is to select between Germany’s Rheinmetall with the Lynx, the CV90 made by BAE Systems Hägglunds in Sweden, South Korea’s Hanwha with the AS21 Redback, and General Dynamics European Land Systems with its Ascod, among others. A committee consisting of Defence Ministry officials and representatives of state-owned defense company Romtehnica is to pick the winner.

The Romanian authorities expect that, after an initial batch of 26 vehicles is made by the selected supplier, the country’s state-dominated defense industry will take over manufacturing activities and produce the remaining 220 IFVs.

“The essential security interest for the Romanian state is to protect the supply chain through a technology transfer of the assembly, integration, testing and maintenance capabilities for the aforementioned technology and products to Romania,” the Ministry of National Defence said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the Romanian ministry told Defense News that, when contracting for major acquisitions, one of the institution’s priorities is to maximize the involvement of the country’s defense sector.

“The Ministry of National Defence is interested in increasing the contribution of the national defense industry to the procurement process of the Romanian Armed Forces and in ensuring, at local level, the lifetime maintenance of weapon systems and major equipment,” the spokesperson said.

Alexandru Georgescu, a security and defense analyst based in Bucharest, told Defense News that the past years have brought investments in the country’s defense industry by foreign groups, including Rheinmetall and Hanwha, which has whetted the appetites of Romanian officials for domestic production of the IFVs.

“But it all depends on how the bidding process will go, and anything other than a government-to-government acquisition could create delays as competitors are likely to contest the winner,” he said.

Poland eyes heavy IFVs

Last March, Poland’s Ministry of National Defence signed a contract worth PLN 6.57 billion ($1.8 billion) to buy 111 Borsuk (Badger) tracked infantry fighting vehicles from Polish state-run defense group PGZ, and potentially almost 1,300 more Borsuks and accompanying vehicles in the coming years.

The Borsuk is set to replace the Soviet-designed BWP-1 vehicle as the Polish Army’s flagship tracked IFV. The 111 ordered vehicles are to be delivered to the nation’s land forces in the years 2025 to 2029.

On top of the amphibious Borsuk, which weighs around 28 tons in its basic variant, the ministry is advancing plans to order up to 700 heavier IFVs with improved ballistic and anti-mine protection.

Poland’s Defence Ministry has declared that, in cooperation with other European allies, it wants to spur the creation of consortia that will jointly buy weapons. Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said the Borsuk could be one of the products that Poland could buy together with other countries, as a number of Eastern European allies are currently planning to purchase new IFVs.

At the same time, most of the companies that are actively marketing their tracked vehicles in Romania are also advancing similar campaigns in Poland, as PGZ is evaluating the available platforms produced by foreign groups for a potential purchase of a license, local observers say.

An official decision whether PGZ is to develop a heavy IFV on its own or buy a license from abroad has yet to be made.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——随着众多东欧盟国寻求采购步兵战车，罗马尼亚和波兰也在推进增强其履带式车辆车队的计划，但在对待外国供应商和技术转让方面采取了不同的策略。

7月10日，罗马尼亚政府决定启动一项期待已久的计划，用新型装备替换老旧的苏联时期MLI-84履带式步兵战车。布加勒斯特计划在签署协议后的八年内采购约246辆战车，以及模拟器和后勤保障设备，为此采购拨款近25.5亿欧元（约合29.6亿美元）。该计划可能进入第二阶段，届时可能再订购52辆战车。

当地观察人士称，罗马尼亚国防部将在德国莱茵金属公司的“山猫”（Lynx）装甲车、瑞典BAE系统公司哈格隆德分公司生产的CV90装甲车、韩国韩华公司的AS21“红背蜘蛛”（Redback）装甲车以及通用动力欧洲陆地系统公司的“阿斯科德”（Ascod）装甲车等多种装甲车中做出选择。最终的中标者将由一个由国防部官员和国有国防企业罗马尼亚技术公司（Romtehnica）代表组成的委员会选出。

罗马尼亚当局预计，在选定的供应商生产出首批 26 辆车辆后，该国国有国防工业将接管生产活动，并生产剩余的 220 辆步兵战车。

罗马尼亚国防部在一份声明中表示：“罗马尼亚国家的基本安全利益在于通过向罗马尼亚转让上述技术和产品的组装、集成、测试和维护能力，来保护供应链。”

罗马尼亚国防部发言人告诉《防务新闻》，在签订重大采购合同时，该机构的优先事项之一是最大限度地让该国国防部门参与其中。

发言人表示：“国防部有意提高国防工业对罗马尼亚武装部队采购过程的贡献，并确保在地方层面实现武器系统和主要装备的终身维护。”

布加勒斯特的安全和国防分析师亚历山德鲁·乔治斯库告诉《防务新闻》，过去几年，包括莱茵金属和韩华在内的外国集团对该国国防工业进行了投资，这激发了罗马尼亚官员对国产步兵战车的渴望。

“但这完全取决于竞标过程如何进行，除了政府间采购之外的任何其他采购方式都可能造成延误，因为竞争对手可能会对中标者提出异议，”他说。

波兰关注重型步兵战车

去年三月，波兰国防部签署了一份价值 65.7 亿兹罗提（18 亿美元）的合同，从波兰国营国防集团 PGZ 购买 111 辆 Borsuk（獾）履带式步兵战车，并可能在未来几年内再购买近 1300 辆 Borsuk 战车及配套车辆。

“博尔苏克”步兵战车将取代苏联设计的BWP-1战车，成为波兰陆军的主力履带式步兵战车。订购的111辆战车将于2025年至2029年间交付波兰陆军。

除了基本型重约 28 吨的两栖装甲车“博尔苏克”之外，该部正在推进订购多达 700 辆更重的步兵战车的计划，这些战车将具备改进的弹道和反地雷防护能力。

波兰国防部宣布，希望与其他欧洲盟国合作，推动组建联合采购武器的联盟。波兰副总理兼国防部长瓦迪斯瓦夫·科西尼亚克-卡梅什表示，由于一些东欧盟国目前正计划采购新型步兵战车，因此“博尔苏克”步兵战车可能是波兰与其他国家联合采购的产品之一。

与此同时，据当地观察人士称，大多数在罗马尼亚积极推销其履带车辆的公司也在波兰开展类似的推广活动，因为波兰石油天然气公司（PGZ）正在评估外国集团生产的可用平台，以考虑是否购买许可证。

PGZ是自行研发重型步兵战车还是从国外购买许可证，目前尚未做出正式决定。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。