ZSSW-30
The ZSSW-30 is a Polish remotely controlled turret designed by Huta Stalowa Wola and WB Electronics as a replacement for the Hitfist-30P turret of the Rosomak APC. It will also be fitted on the Borsuk IFV.
Development
History
The ZSSW-30 turret was developed in response to the issues regarding the maintenance and modernization attempts of the Hitfist-30P turrets for the Rosomak APC. Initially the most popular direction was to buy a license for the Hitfist OWS unmanned turret with the rights to produce the majority of components domestically, however it was ultimately rejected as it was feared that the new turret would encounter identical issues, since they were caused mainly by poor cooperation between the Polish industry and Leonardo.The design requirements were ready in March 2011, and two consortia entered the competition. First one consisting of ZM Bumar Łabędy, OBRUM, OBRSM, Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne, Przemysłowe Centrum Optyki, ZM Tarnów and WAT, and the second one of HSW and WB Electronics. Both contenders offered similar designs - closed turret structure protecting all the mechanisms and electronics with a separate container for ATGMs. The biggest difference between them was that the first design used the remote control weapon station as the commander's sight.
Ultimately, the second design was chosen despite the fact that the companies making up the first consortium had way more experience in designing turret systems. On March 29, 2013, an agreement was signed between the Ministry of National Defence and the consortium consisting of Huta Stalowa Wola S.A. and WB Electronics, under which a prototype batch of five turrets was to be developed until 2015 and the serial production of the turrets for the Rosomak was to begin in 2016. The program was delayed several times due to the timeframe being unrealistically short and because the MoD, still remembering problems with the Hitfist-30P, decided to eliminate most of the foreign components from the design.
The first mock-up of the ZSSW-30 turret was presented at the MSPO 2014 military expo, with the first prototype being presented a year later when the initial developmental work was finished. Unlike the mock-up, the 2015 prototype already looked very similar to the final design with the main visual difference being the barrel shroud not present on the later prototypes and production variant.
Factory testing of the first turret prototype took place in 2015 and 2016, with the first ATGM test launches on July 14, 2016. The development has been completed in 2019 and the trials began on January 22, 2020. On October 1, 2021, the turret system had officially completed the trials with a positive result, which opened the way to negotiations between the MoD and the manufacturer and to serial production. On July 5, 2022, the Armaments Agency and the HSW-WB consortium signed a framework agreement for the delivery of 341 turrets for the Rosomak wheeled IFVs as well as an executive contract for the first 70 turrets. The first turrets are expected to be delivered in 2023.
On November 21, 2022, WB Group contracted PCO with the production of 70 GOD-1 "Iris" and 70 GOC-1 "Nike" sights for the first batch of ZSSW-30 turrets.
The ZSSW-30 officially entered service in December 2023, when first five Rosomak IFVs equipped with these turrets entered service with the 21st Podhale Rifle Brigade.
Future
On the Defence24 Day conference which took place in May 2023, Remigiusz Wilk, communications director of the WB Group talked about the development and future of the ZSSW-30 turret. One of the main development directions is the implementation of the EyeQ AI into the turret's FCS. These algorithms will give ZSSW-30 a number of advantages over contemporary turret designs, such as the ability to passively measure the distance to multiple targets and mark them on the tactical map, improved target tracking regardless of the weather conditions, the ability to fuze visual data from different sources such as UAVs or other vehicles which will enable the crew to "see" the targets beyond their line of sight and increase their identification range.Description
Armament
The ZSSW-30 is armed with the Mk44S Bushmaster II chain gun, coaxial 7.62 mm UKM-2000C machine gun. and a launch container on its right side for two Spike-LR anti-tank guided missiles. It also features eight 81 mm grenade launchers using the GAk-81 phosphorus smoke grenades.Main gun
The main armament of the ZSSW-30 is the Mk44S Bushmaster II 30×173mm chain gun. Mk44S is a variant of the standard Mk44 gun that can be adapted to fire the 40×180mm SuperShot40 ammunition by swapping just a few components. The gun fires at a rate of 200 RPM for standard ammunition, and 120 RPM for ABM and has elevation angles extending from -9° to +60°. The gun has a dual feed system and is fed from the left side by two ammunition racks located on the left side of the turret - the smaller one, containing around 100 armor piercing rounds and the bigger one containing around 200 multi purpose rounds, which makes the turret's first stage ammunition rack one of the biggest among similar systems. The spent casings are ejected to the front, through the chute in the gun mantlet. The ammunition used in ZSSW-30 is produced by Mesko, with the FAPDS-T being a domestic development and other ammo types being produced under a license from Nammo.| Designation | Type | Projectile weight | Cartridge weight | Bursting charge | Muzzle velocity | Penetration |
| NM225 | APFSDS-T | 227,5 | 710 | - | 1,430 | 100-110 |
| N/A | FAPDS-T | 235 | 715 | - | 1,385 | N/A |
| NM222 | MP-T/SD | 363 | 835 | 40 | 1070 | 10 |
| NM219 | TP-T | 363 | 835 | - | 1070 | - |
Coaxial machine gun
Alongside the Bushmaster II chain gun, the ZSSW-30 is fitted with the UKM-2000C general-purpose machine gun. The machine gun is mounted coaxially to the main gun on its right side, with its barrel being covered by a shroud similar to that covering the coaxial machine gun of an Abrams tank. UKM-2000C is a version of the UKM-2000, adapted to use in the vehicles by removing the stock and installing a solenoid trigger, gas regulator and heavier, longer barrel. It fires at a rate of 700-850 rounds per minute, and is fed by a 250-round belt. The spent casings and links are ejected through an opening in the right side of the turret below the ATGM container.ATGM
For engaging heavily armored targets, ZSSW-30 is equipped with a dual ATGM launch container mounted to the right side of the turret. The use of a separate container has some advantages compared to other systems where a launcher extends directly from an internal compartment of the turret. Among those are separation of the missiles from the rest of the turret, ability to quickly replace damaged or destroyed container while in the field as well as easy integration of missiles of different weight and size, while the main disadvantage of such design choice is a difficult integration of a hard kill active protection system. The ATGMs can be reloaded from a hatch in the rear of the vehicle without the necessity for the crew to leave the vehicle use. Spike-LR and LR2 can engage targets in a direct attack or top attack mode, which makes them capable of destroying modern MBTs. Spike-LR can hit targets at ranges from 200 meters to 4 kilometers when guided manually, and up to 4.5 kilometers in the fire-and-forget mode, while the Spike-LR2 has a maximum range of 5.5 kilometers. Both variants feature a tandem warhead with the penetration of over 700 mm RHA after ERA for the LR variant and 30% more for the LR2.The Javelin is an American fire-and-forget, IIR guided anti-tank guided missile. The system employs a top attack flight profile against well armored vehicles such as MBTs, but can also be used in a direct attack mode against softer targets such as IFVs, unarmored vehicles or buildings, as well as targets too close for top attack and even helicopters. In the top attack mode, the Javelin can reach a peak altitude of 150 m in top attack mode. Initial versions had a range of 2 kilometers, later increased to 2.5 kilometers. Javelin's tandem HEAT warhead is stated as being able to penetrate in excess of 760 mm RHA after ERA.
Smoke grenades
For protection, the turret is equipped with eight 81 mm smoke grenade launchers, four on the left side and four on the front to the right of the main gun. The grenades used are the GAk-81 multispectral phosphorus grenades designed and produced by ZSP Niewiadów. When fired, grenades fly 30–60 meters and after up to 4.5 seconds from being fired, starts to produce the smokescreen. The smokescreen lasts for 30–50 seconds depending on the weather conditions and covers the vehicle in the visible light spectrum as well as in the IR spectrum of 1-5 μm.ZSP Niewiadów designed a more modern GM-81 smoke grenade which works in a broader wavelength spectrum and has an additional charge which generates a short lasting cloud of smoke immediately upon firing and covers the vehicle before the main charge starts generating smoke, however the Land Forces hasn't adopted it and still uses the old GAk-81 grenades.