On February 28th, with the participation of the Vice-President of the Council of Ministers, the Minister of National Defense, Mr. Mariusz Błaszczak, a framework contract was concluded for the supply of BORSUK infantry fighting vehicles and specialized vehicles based on a universal modular tracked platform.
Agreement concluded between the Armament Agency, representing the State Treasury of the Republic of Poland, and a consortium of companies composed of: Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa S.A. and Huta Stalowa Wola S.A., aims to define the terms and conditions of concluding individual executive contracts related to the supply of BORSUK infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and the entire family of specialized tracked vehicles based on the universal modular tracked platform (UMPG) for the Polish Armed Forces.
As a result of the concluded framework agreement, over the course of the entire project, a total of nearly 1,400 vehicles will be acquired, of which over 1,000 will be BORSUK IFVs. Other specialist vehicles will include: ŻUK tracked reconnaissance transporters, OSET tracked command vehicles, GOTEM medical evacuation vehicles, GEKON technical security vehicles and ARES contamination reconnaissance vehicles.
The estimated value of the executive contracts to be awarded under the agreement in question will reach several dozen billion zlotys, while the deliveries of the first vehicles of selected types are planned for 2024-2025.
It is worth emphasizing that the BORSUK IFV is a fundamental response to the current and prospective needs of mechanized forces and in the future it will be the dominant solution in this area in the Polish Armed Forces, and the process of generational replacement of post-Soviet BMP-1s will require intensification of the contractor’s production capacity in order to strengthening the defense potential of the Polish Armed Forces.
BORSUK is being developed on the basis of an agreement concluded between the National Center for Research and Development (NCBR) and a consortium of Polish entities, whose leader is Huta Stalowa Wola S.A. It is worth noting that on April 28, 2022, four additional prototypes were contracted, which will be used to carry out checks in the system environment. The results of these tests will affect the target configuration of the BORSUK IFV and the development of the product in subsequent production tranches. According to the agreement, the above prototypes should be delivered to the Polish Armed Forces by the end of the first half of this year.
The contractor also conducts works related to the construction and development of an experimental vehicle for the needs of the entire New Amphibious Infantry Fighting Vehicle project, which also includes other vehicles based on a universal modular tracked platform. This vehicle will be used to test further innovative solutions.