WARSAW, Poland — The Polish Ministry of National Defence has signed a deal worth some PLN 6.57 billion ($1.7 billion) to acquire 111 Borsuk (Badger) tracked infantry fighting vehicles from the country’s state-run defense group PGZ.
“We are delivering on our promise to invest in the Polish defense industry,” Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Poland’s deputy prime minister and defense minister, was quoted in a statement released by his agency.
“Security and the economy, these two things are combined within the Borsuk. Security, because we gain excellent equipment developed in Poland, and the economy, because all this money goes to Polish defense companies,” according to Kosiniak-Kamysz.
Under the plan, the Borsuk will replace the Soviet-designed BWP-1 vehicle as the Polish military’s tracked IFV. The March 27 contract marks the first executive deal to be signed within a 2023 framework contract for a total of 1,400 Borsuks and accompanying vehicles.
Under the deal, the 111 ordered vehicles are to be supplied to the Polish land forces in the years 2025 to 2029.
The Borsuk, which has amphibious technology, is fitted with the ZSSW-30 remote-controlled turret. The vehicle is manned by a crew of three, and it can carry six troops.
Work on developing the Borsuk was initiated in 2014 by local company Huta Stalowa Wola, currently a PGZ subsidiary, which is part of the consortium that will produce the vehicles for the Polish Army.
