The Polish Ministry of National Defense has stated its intention to acquire the Rosomak-S wheeled armoured personnel carriers (APCs) designed to carry anti-armor squads.
Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak said last week that the Polish Army is a step closer to acquiring its first batch of Rosomak-S APCs modified to carry Spike LR Dual anti-tank guided missile squads.
“We plan to purchase 60 Rosomak-S wheeled armored personnel carriers for handling portable Spike kits,” Mariusz Błaszczak said in a statement on an official Twitter account. “We want to conclude the agreement in the third quarter of this year.”
In a statement to Defence24.pl, a spokesman for the General Command of the Armed Forces Gen. Lt. Col. Marek Pawlak said the Rosomak-S APCs will be part of the process of strengthening the so-called “Eastern wall”.
This means that these vehicles – at least for the most part – will go to units located in the east of the country. Introducing them to the support company is aimed at “unifying and increasing the level of ballistic protection of means of transport in the structure of anti-tank platoons.” Today, Spike-LR launchers are transported using a variety of vehicles – even with Honker cars in some units.
Israeli Spike-LR Dual anti-tank guided missiles have been introduced into the inventory of the Polish army back in 2004. This missile system is license-manufacturing by the Mesko facility located in Skarżysko-Kamienna.
They are equipped with a tandem anti-tank warhead. The missile is capable of striking armoured vehicles from the front or top side, at distances of up to 4000 meters. Guidance is realized either by a thermal vision camera or via visible light. The operator is able to guide the missile with an optical fibre, which means that striking covered targets is possible as well.
Planujemy zakup 60 kołowych transporterów opancerzonych Rosomak-S do przewozu obsług przenośnych zestawów Spike. Umowę chcemy zawrzeć jeszcze w III kwartale tego roku. To kolejny kontrakt z polską zbrojeniówką, który wzmocni Siły Zbrojne. pic.twitter.com/iWZ23NnTa9
— Mariusz Błaszczak (@mblaszczak) May 1, 2020