Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1407425
in the form of the ZSMU Kobuz system supplied by ZM Tarnów. For quite some time, the aforesaid proposal was viewed as the first and obvious choice. The businesses listed above had gathered experience throughout the PZA Loara project, or other turret prototype development undertakings of the 1990s. The concept above, however, was not convincing for the Ordering Party. A competitive design, submitted by a consortium formed by HSW and WB Electronics, was selected instead. The reasoning behind this decision has not been publicly clarified, as it was made at the MoD subjectively. One could, however, conclude that the HSW-WB's offering was more prospective (especially when it comes to the fire control system). It was also a better fit for the Rosomak APC, and the upcoming BWP-1 platform replacement. Ultimately, the Polish Ministry of Defence and the HSW-WB consortium, have signed the relevant agreement on March 29th, 2013. Within the framework of that contract, a prototype turret was to be developed, along with a low rate initial production lot of five turrets. As of 2016, the new ZSSW-30 turret was to be installed on the Rosomak APC in the wheeled IFV variant. It was also to become the primary armament of the reconnaissance versions of the Rosomak platform. Originally, the deployment timeline was optimistic, to say the least. One should emphasize the fact that no country that decided to develop a turret so complex, from a scratch, was able to manage to launch series manufacturing in mere 3 years. Even when the given industry had a broad experience, a feat as such was only possible when the "new" system inherited more than 75% of components coming from the legacy solutions. The MoD has defined a very ambitious deadline for the consortium. Nonetheless, it was feasible. This is because it was assumed that third parties would provide relevant licenses for the gun, motors, or sights. Ultimately, however, the completion deadline was changed three times - in 2015, in September 2016, and in April 2017. The changes in the delivery deadlines were influenced by the user's decisions. Remembering the problems associated with the Hitfist-30P turret, the Ordering Party decided to exclude imported components entirely. The gun was to be licensed-manufactured, however, the primary and the panoramic sights were to be delivered by the Polish industry. The development of those took almost five years. This seems www.fragoutmag.com