Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa has presented a command vehicle for the “Ottokar-Brzoza” – Waran program. The Ottokar-Brzoza Tank Destroyer Battery Fire Modules (BMOs) will destroy armored targets using Brimstone anti-tank guided missiles. A single battery fire module will consist of eight tank destroyers, one battery commander’s command vehicle, two platoon commanders’ command vehicles, two ammunition vehicles, two artillery reconnaissance vehicles, two medical evacuation vehicles, a universal mobile container chassis repair workshop and a universal mobile container armament workshop and electronics.
Waran is also a proposal for missile forces and artillery, and more specifically – for squadrons with Langusta launchers (where it can replace WD-43 of Soviet origin) and Kryl fire modules. The lack of a suitable carrier in the Armed Forces forced the Dan squadrons to use Honker command vehicles, which, like the WD-43, are not suitable for this role.
The dragon is 6.2 meters long, 2.55 meters wide, 2.7 meters high and has a wheelbase of 3.65 meters. The five-door body can accommodate eight people, including a two-person crew. The load capacity of the vehicle is 5 tons, its curb weight is 13 tons. The vehicle is adapted to overcome fords up to 1.2 meters deep, slopes up to 45 ° and vertical obstacles 0.5 meters high.
The vehicle is powered by an eight-cylinder, air-cooled, V-type Tatra T3C-928-90 diesel engine with a capacity of 12.7 liters and an output of 410 horsepower. Develops a top speed of up to 110 kilometers per hour. The manufacturer ensures that the structure will be durable and will be characterized by good driving characteristics due to the lack of the need to transmit power through cardan joints. An additional advantage of the modularity of the structure is the relatively simple and quick reconfiguration of the 4 × 4 chassis to the 6 × 6 or 8 × 8 system and the creation of different body versions.
(Andrzej Pawłowski, Konflikty.pl)
Ballistic protection is at level 2 according to the NATO standard STANAG 4569, and anti-mine protection – at level 2a / 2b. The vehicle can be armored to the maximum levels of 4 and 3a / 3b respectively. The vehicle is adapted to operate in extreme climatic conditions, in particular at temperatures ranging from -32 to 49 ° C) and provides protection against the effects of weapons of mass destruction.
The equipment of the Waran is also, among others:
fire control system; observation head with a day and night camera, infrared thermal imaging camera; internal and external communication systems VHF + KF; air conditioning system with filtering system; car masking system; unmanned aerial vehicle for reconnaissance purposes; warning and self-shielding system with a set of smoke grenade launchers.
Concept art of the OTTOKAR-BRZOZA tank destroyer based on the 4 × 4 Tactical Multipurpose Vehicle by #HSW
More information about today’s contract ➡️https: //t.co/NKNZFu3add@MON_GOV_PL @MAPGOVPL pic.twitter.com/Wwvbn4z7aC
– Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa🇵🇱 (@PGZ_pl) July 20, 2022
On the ceiling, it is possible to install additional equipment, including an observation system, a shooting position in a turntable or a remotely controlled weapon module. The artillery command vehicle is armed with the ZSMU A3 module with the 7.62mm UKM 2000C machine gun. The presented chassis may be the starting point for the installation of many other specialized vehicles, including a light tank destroyer, a carrier of light weapons systems, an artillery reconnaissance vehicle or a vehicle for transporting personnel and equipment of tactical airspace control teams.
The chassis is the result of an agreement signed during MSPO 2020 by Huta Stalowa Wola and the Czech Tatra Export. It assumed cooperation in the design and delivery of a 4 × 4 vehicle with complete technical documentation enabling production in Poland. Already at that time it was announced that the vehicle would be offered to the Polish Armed Forces in other programs in which the companies of the Polish Armaments Group were participants. Currently, the vehicle is being developed independently by PGZ.
The contract for the supply of tank destroyers was signed on July 20 by the Armaments Agency and the PGZ-Ottokar consortium. The first prototype copies will be delivered to the 14th Anti-Tank Regiment from Suwałki next year. There will be a total of eight vehicles capable of forming a fire battery that can be operational within two years of delivery.
Brimstone at the launch pad at the MBDA.
(Andrzej Pawłowski, Konflikty.pl)
Each vehicle will be armed with eight 12 km range Brimstone missiles to be delivered by MBDA UK. The manufacturer and the WB Group announced during last year’s MSPO that they had successfully integrated the effectors with the national combat management system TOPAZ, into which tank destroyers will be plugged in.
Apart from the destroyers themselves, command vehicles and artillery reconnaissance vehicles (AWR) will be built on the same 4 × 4 chassis. The remaining mobile components will use Jelcz platforms. Similar AWRs – but on the Rosomak chassis – will be built for the company’s Rak fire modules. Anti-tank guided missiles as well as training and logistics packages will also be acquired for the battery-powered fire modules of tank destroyers. The framework agreement did not define the detailed configuration of the components, which will be specified each time at the time of concluding the executive contracts.
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Andrzej Pawłowski, conflict.pl
