artillery time
Crab on the new chassis of the South Korean company Hanwha Techwin. In the background are towers awaiting assembly in the Huta Stalowa Wola SA hall.
For several years, the process of modernization of the equipment of the Rocket Forces and artillery of the Polish Army has been carried out. All artillery programs named after aquatic crustaceans are carried out by Polish industry, and above all Huta Stalowa Wola SA, owned by Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa.
The largest contract signed by the Armaments Inspectorate of the Ministry of National Defense in the first eight months of 2016 concerned the supply by a consortium of companies Huta Stalowa Wola SA and Rosomak SA of 120-mm Rak self-propelled mortars based on the chassis of Rosomak armored personnel carriers. In accordance with it, in 2017-2019, eight fire support modules, i.e. a total of 64 M120K self-propelled mortars and 32 all-wheel drive artillery control vehicles. The latter in three versions: 8 in the version for commanders and deputy commanders of the support company and 16 in the version for commanders of firing platoons. The cost of this transaction will be about PLN 963,3 million. The company's first two modules are due to be delivered to divisions in 2017. Three modules are to be delivered in 2018-2019.
Cancer on Rosomak
The idea of introducing self-propelled mortars into service with the Polish ground forces arose with the adoption of Rosomak armored personnel carriers, which were officially ordered in 2003. It was concluded that battalions equipped with these vehicles needed adequate fire support, which towed mortars could not provide, and the 122 mm 2C1 Goździk self-propelled howitzers used so far would not have the same mobility due to the tracked chassis - especially when long forced marches. Initially, as in the case of the aircraft carriers themselves, the purchase of a license abroad was considered, but in the end it was decided to develop a new weapon system in Poland.
Research and development work on an autonomous turret system with a 120 mm automatic mortar was started at HSW in 2006 and was initially funded from its own funds. The Ministry of Defense formally joined this project only three years later. Consequently, the choice of weapon caliber was decided by the designers from Stalyov-Volya, and not by the military, although this was the only logical choice. One of the priorities was the maximum automation of the system. Therefore, the Rak tower is equipped with an automatic device that allows you to load ammunition in any position of the barrel. Thanks to this, the rate of fire reaches 12 rounds per minute, and the range, incl. thanks to a three-meter barrel and with the use of specially designed ammunition - up to 12 km.
In 2009, the Department of Defense Policy of the Ministry of National Defense instructed HSW to develop and test by 2013 a company fire module - 120-mm self-propelled mortars. The module was supposed to consist of two mortar prototypes - one on a tracked and one wheeled chassis. HSW also had to prepare prototypes of specialized vehicles: ammunition, control, artillery and a reconnaissance workshop. In connection with the change in the regulations for the adoption of new weapons into service, and hence for their testing, the Ministry of Defense agreed to extend the deadline for R&D until the end of May 2015, but this deadline was also not met.
The agreement of April 28, 2016 concerned only wheeled self-propelled mortars and command vehicles. To complete the fire module of the company, the following are also needed: artillery reconnaissance vehicles (AVR), ammunition vehicles (BV) and weapons and electronics repair vehicles (VRUiE). Most acutely, there is a shortage of artillery reconnaissance vehicles, which should have been used - after modification - in other new artillery systems, such as the Regina / Crab or Langusta. Only after the successful completion of the tests of these specialized machines will an additional contract be concluded for their purchase. However, this work, of course, will require some time, since the operator of the equipment, the Directorate of Missile Forces and Artillery of the Ground Forces, has decided to change the base vehicle of the BRA. The current one - the Zubr armored car - after several years of research was found to be inadequate.
It will be easier with the ammo rack and the workshop, the end of which is scheduled for this year.
This will not be the end of the program. Simultaneously with the mortar, a tracked mortar was tested on the Rosomak chassis, while on a modified LPG tracked transporter from HSW, which is also the base of command vehicles in the fire modules of the Regina / Krab division. Therefore, in the longer term, it is possible that firing modules of 120-mm self-propelled mortars on a tracked chassis, derived from the Borsuk program, i.e. will also be ordered.
crab meanders
On April 6 and 7, 2016, the armaments commission of the Armaments Inspectorate signed the latest documents opening up the possibility of starting mass production and deliveries to the armed forces of the 155-mm Krab self-propelled howitzer on a new chassis, which is a Polish-Korean modification of the carrier of the South Korean K9 Thunder gun. Thus, it was possible to start deliveries of guns in their final form, which the Polish gunners had been waiting for almost as long as the sailors of the Gawron corvette.
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