Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1281650
platform, despite the critical voices appearing in the domestic media. The vehicles manufactured in Siemianowice Śląskie have become a trademark of the Polish soldiers deployed to Afghanistan. The undisputed Afghan success did not cast any bright light on the problems emerging domestically. The 2004-2014 decade can be described with a single term: con- trast. The deployment success and the successful polonization of the carrier were somewhat placed in the opposition to the lack of decisiveness in the case of the Administrator. The milita- ry portion of the program was far from what could be conside- red to be a success. The problems stemmed, primarily, from the aforesaid lack of ‚medium' elements in the Polish Armed For- ces. The program aimed at creating a single deployment-spe- cialized brigade evolved into the formation of three brigades. The decision as such was motivated by the „scale effect" (the higher the number of vehicles manufactured, the lo- wer the unit price was). The military also concluded that the wheeled IFV - Rosomak APC with the Hitfist-30P turret - has become the only modern troop carrier in the Polish military. The contrast was especially pronounced when Rosomak was compared to the BMP-1s, which were 4 decades old at the time. Rearming of the battalions created three challenges, beyond the scope of the industrial influence. The first one was related to the changing assignments in battalions and brigades, with the mechanized infantry battalions using the wheeled APCs being renamed to motorized infantry. Their structure has also been changed, from three companies, three platoons each (each with four vehicles) into one comprising four companies. As a result, the „legacy" battalions had 39 vehicles (plus the C2 vehicle). The new battalions had 52 APCs, plus the C2 vehicle. Considering the aforesaid circumstances, the quantitative estimates were understated. This has also been influenced by the Afghan and Chad deployments - a top priority. However, it delay- ed the deliveries of the vehicles to the domestic ele- ments. The situation of the specialist variants was also quite ridiculous. Only the MEDEVAC variant has been de- veloped and introduced between 2005 and 2014. „Spike- -bus" APC could also be listed among the specialist versions introduced. The latter version was used to transport the ATGM squads. The lack of specialist varieties can only be associa- ted with the lack of decisiveness in the case of 2004-2014. Quo vadis, Administrator? VEHICLES