Poland will purchase new Badger infantry fighting vehicles to replace those given to Ukraine
On February 28, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Poland Mariusz Blaszczak approved a framework contract for the supply of almost 1400 new vehicles for the army, including about 1000 Polish-made Borsuk tracked infantry fighting vehicles.
New infantry fighting vehicles should replace the BWP-1, the Polish analogue of the BMP-1 developed in the USSR, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The framework contract for 1000 Borsuk vehicles is historic, the post-Soviet BWP-1 is history. The Borsuk, which was developed by Polish designers and manufactured at the Stalowa Wola steel plant, will successfully replace the infantry fighting vehicle that has been used so far. It is extremely important that we strengthen the Polish Army by equipping it with equipment that is produced in our country,” emphasized Mariusz Blaszczak.
True, in 2023 the Polish army will receive only four Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles. In addition to these machines in a combat version, the contract provides for orders for reconnaissance, control, medical evacuation, technical security and infection intelligence vehicles. Their delivery dates are not known.
The Borsuk infantry fighting vehicle will enter service with motorized rifle units; it is designed to protect the crew and infantry soldiers from small arms fire, anti-tank grenade launchers and improvised explosive device explosions. The BMP crew consists of three people: a commander, a weapons operator and a driver; the vehicle can carry six infantrymen. Armament is a 30 mm cannon coaxial with a 7,62 mm machine gun, as well as a Spike anti-tank missile.
Polish commentators note that the contract for the purchase of such a large number of new infantry fighting vehicles is due to the fact that Poland plans to transfer to Kyiv the vast majority of BWP-1 vehicles currently in service with the Polish army. As of the beginning of 2022, the Polish Army had about 1,2 thousand BWP-1s, now about 400 of them have already been delivered to Ukraine, and almost 100 more are planned to be transferred to the motorized rifle brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which is currently training in Poland.
Как reported “PolitNavigator”, Poland will train and equip the Ukrainian Armed Forces brigade with T-72 tanks and BMP-1 by the end of March.
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