Borsuk (infantry fighting vehicle)
Borsuk is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle produced by Huta Stalowa Wola, a part of Polish Armaments Group. It is designed to replace the BWP-1 IFV that has been in service with the Polish Armed Forces since 1973 but is now obsolete.
Although often referred to as BWP Borsuk, BWP is not an official part of the name but rather an abbreviation of Bojowy Wóz Piechoty, Polish for "infantry fighting vehicle".
Development
History
The Borsuk IFV emerged from NBPWP Borsuk development program initiated in October 2014, when a contract was signed between the NCBR and a consortium consisting of Huta Stalowa Wola S.A., Ośrodek Badawczo-Rozwojowy Urządzeń Mechanicznych OBRUM Sp. z o.o., Rosomak S.A., Wojskowe Zakłady Elektroniczne S.A., Wojskowe Zakłady Inżynieryjne S.A., Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne S.A., National Defense University, Military University of Technology, Wojskowy Instytut Techniki Pancernej i Samochodowej and Warsaw University of Technology aiming at the development of a new IFV. The value of the contract was 75 million PLN. 62 million PLN was a grant from the NCBR.The vehicle is equipped with the ZSSW-30 unmanned turret developed under its own program by a consortium of HSW and WB Group.
The first technology demonstrator of the new Borsuk IFV was unveiled at the MSPO 2017 exhibition with a more refined version being shown a year later. The 2018 variant differed from the original demonstrator by having side skirts, appliqué armor on the sides and composite rubber tracks instead of steel link ones.
In 2018 the prototype underwent its first set of factory trials which resulted in introduction of additional upgrades. The new version presented in 2019 at MSPO exhibition had redesigned trim vane, new headlights, different add-on armor and mounting points for mobile multispectral camouflage.
In September 2020 the prototype successfully completed a series of extensive military hands-on trials conducted at Drawsko Training Ground. Preparation of the technical documentation of the vehicle for future production begun at the same time.
Construction of four additional prototypes was commissioned by NCBR in April 2022, which raised the development cost to 262.06 million PLN, of which 242.2 million PLN was financed by NCBR.
In November 2022 presentation and familiarization tests of Borsuk took place at the Orzysz Training Ground. They were witnessed by Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak, HSW officials and the media. During the presentation it was announced that the qualification trials are expected to be completed by mid-2023 and that the 16th Mechanised Division will be the first recipient of the new vehicle. The same announcement also suggested that other types of ATGMs will be integrated with the ZSSW-30 turret and that the Borsuk's chassis will become a base for additional specialized vehicles.
On February 28, 2023, the Armaments Agency signed a framework agreement with Huta Stalowa Wola for the delivery of 1,000 Borsuk IFVs and 400 auxiliary variants based the same chassis. Among those variants are combat reconnaissance vehicle, command vehicle, armored recovery vehicle, MEDEVAC vehicle, and NBC reconnnaissance vehicle. In this manner Borsuk will become a new fighting platform for the Polish Armed Forces and thus, in the Polish sources, is now often referred to as UMPG.
According to the information provided by Col. Piotr Paluch during the meeting of the Standing Subcommittee for the Polish Defense Industry and Technical Modernization of the Polish Armed Forces which took place on July 6, 2023, the price of the Borsuk prototype with the ZSSW-30 turret was estimated at 36 million PLN as of 2020. The first IFVs are expected to be delivered in 2024, auxiliary vehicles in 2026 and the whole program is to be completed by 2035. There are also plans to acquire an engine from another supplier for the Borsuk.
Two vehicles based on the Borsuk chassis were presented at MSPO 2024 - the base IFV variant as well as the first specialized vehicle, a self-propelled mortar fitted with a technology demonstrator of the new M69 Rak turret. The mortar variant retains the amphibious capability of the base chassis.
On March 27, 2025, the first executive contract was signed between the Armaments Agency and PGZ, for the delivery of 111 Borsuk IFVs for the price of 6.5 billion PLN. The deliveries are to take place from 2025 to 2029.
On 4 December 2025, PGZ announced the delivery of the first 15 serial-production Borusk IFVs to the Polish Armed Forces.
Future
The chassis of the Borsuk IFV is meant to become a base for a whole family of combat and auxiliary vehicles. The planned variants include:- Borsuk - the base variant, an infantry fighting vehicle equipped with the ZSSW-30 turret.
- Oset - command vehicle, supposed to be based on a chassis variant with a raised superstructure.
- Żuk - reconnaissance vehicle.
- Gekon - armored recovery vehicle.
- Ares - NBC reconnaissance vehicle.
- Rak - 120mm self-propelled mortar. A demonstrator of such vehicle has been presented at MSPO 2024, fitted with a new M69 turret.
- Gotem - medical evacuation vehicle.
- Jodła GTRI - Gąsienicowy Transporter Rozpoznania Inżynieryjnego, lit. tracked engineering reconnaissance transporter.
- Jodła 'GTWI - Gąsienicowy Transporter Wojsk Inżynieryjnych, lit. tracked engineering transporter.
- Jodła TMN - Transporter Minowania Narzutowego, lit. mine-scattering transporter. Meant to replace the IMS Kroton, its mine-scattering system will likely be based on that of the Baobab-K.
- Jodła PTI' - Pływający Transporter Inżynieryjny, lit. amphibious engineering transporter. Will replace the PTS-M, likely to be a completely new hull using Borsuk components.
HSW is also working on a different powerpack version of the Borsuk, with a Cummins engine instead of the current MTU ones.
Description
Mobility
Borsuk prototypes are fitted with a powerpack consisting of a 720 hp MTU 8V199 TE20 turbo diesel engine which drives a Perkins X300 automatic transmission. This allows the vehicle to reach speeds of up to 65 km/h on the road and 8 km/h in the water. The production vehicles will feature the same engine and a newer 3040 MX transmission from Allison. Both transmissions have four forward and two reverse gears.The running gear consists of six dual rubber-lined road wheels, with two return rollers on each side. The suspension is hydropneumatic, with the first prototypes equipped with the Horstman InArm units while the newer ones are fitted with WHP35 units designed by Ponar Wadowice, which are also meant to be used in production vehicles. The maximum weight of the Borsuk fitted with InArm suspension is 33 tonnes, while with the WHP35 it's 35 tonnes. Borsuk is able to use either steel or Soucy Defense's composite rubber tracks, with CRTs being preferred by the military.
The vehicle is fully amphibious without any special preparations - crossing a body of water only requires raising the trim vane. In the water Borsuk is propelled by two water jets with rotating nozzles that provide steering capability.
Armament
ZSSW-30
Borsuk is fitted with the ZSSW-30 remote control turret armed with the 30 mm Mk44S Bushmaster II chain gun and a coaxial 7.62 mm UKM-2000C machine gun. The turret also features two Spike-LR anti-tank guided missiles in a launch container mounted on its right side. The ZSSW-30 provides around 300 autocannon rounds, including over 200 ABM rounds, and 250 machine gun rounds in ready to use mode. This is one of the biggest first stage ammunition racks when compared to other similar systems.Use of a separate ATGM launch container, as opposed to other systems where launcher extends directly from an internal compartment of the turret, has some advantages. Among those are separation of the missiles from the rest of the turret and ability to quickly replace damaged or destroyed container while in the field. Both the autocannon and the machine gun can be reloaded and operated from the inside of the turret. The ATGMs can be reloaded from a hatch in the rear of the vehicle without the necessity for the crew to leave the vehicle (in the same manner as it is being done in the Bradley IFV.
The autocannon fires at a rate of 200 RPM for standard ammunition, and 120 RPM for ABM. It has elevation angles extending from -9° to +60°. The ATGMs can hit armour at ranges from 200 meters to 4 kilometers when guided manually, and up to 4.5 kilometers when in the fire and forget mode.