Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1407425
development of domestic industrial potential. Despite the variety of military equipment, one rule stays the same. Procurement alone constitutes just 20-40% of the total cost in service. 60-80% of the cost is tied to training, maintenance, spare parts management, upgrades. This spending is happening after the delivery, which usually comes with a certain initial training package, guarantee, and default stock of spares. One zloty spent on ZSSW- 30 would entail 3 to 4 zlotys more, throughout the turret's lifecycle. When we are discussing a domestic product (such as the ZSSW-30), the LCC expenditure stays in the country, even when some individual components need to be procured abroad. Thus, money spent by the Polish Ministry of Defence stays in Poland, supporting the domestic economy, over the 4 decades of service life expected for this system. In the case of procurement worth billions, this is a major added value. Another important, yet underestimated factor, is the safety that the Armed Forces may enjoy, using the domestic product. We are speaking of political and industrial safety here. Politics-wise, this is obvious. Arms exports have always been used as a tool to impose political pressure. Some states mention this directly - for instance we can witness this in the documents published by the US Administration and Congress (in the context of the F-35 exports). Some states keep it under the radar (Russia, Germany, France). However, there are some examples that this measure of influence is strong, and effective, for the latter group. Numerous examples are focusing on critical technologies, and, should a need emerge - of withdrawn support for use of the given equipment types. Alliances are irrelevant here, as in reality the military equipment in service may outlast them easily. Only nations whose domestic defense industry can maintain and repair the given armament or weapon can withstand this pressure. It is even better when those states manufacture the equipment in question. And so it happened in the case of ZSSW- 30 - all of its primary assemblies are manufactured domestically. They have also been developed in Poland ( FCS, motors), or they are license manufactured (gun, ammunition). The industrial dimension had already been prominent for the Hitfist-30P. The lack of IP rights to the design, along with the import of the primary components of the turret, drove the prices of the spares up, as these were defined by the Italian owner of the Hitfist IP rights. They were not following any market trends. Upgrades of the turrets also had a high price tag. The stance of full margin and limited spares supply was only interrupted after the first, successful tests of the ZSSW-30 turret. Again, the HSW-WB turret does not entail any risk as such. HSW is a joint-stock company that is owned, mostly, by the PGZ Group. And the PGZ Group belongs to the Polish treasury. Again, we need to refer to another truism here: a free market is non-existent when it comes to the defense industry and arms trade. Any state, with a significant defense industry, is supporting its defense and security sector, protecting the market from unfair competition. The only variable here is the method that the given state uses to support the industrial groups and holdings. Different models have been adopted by Germany and France, and entirely different methods are used in Sweden or South Korea. Turkey, Israel, and the United States also support their industries differently. The matter is dependent on the politics, and the legislative and economic solutions adopted by the given country. The above matter overlaps with the development of domestic potential. Due to the size of the Armed Forces themselves, and due to the reasons stemming from the economy, it would not be cost- effective to autonomously develop and manufacture some types of armament in Poland (submarines, MRCA, attack helicopters, airlifters, and so on). However, there are some types of military equipment that, given the scale of the requirements, are affordable to manufacture, research, and develop in a domestic setting. This refers to uniforms, individual inventory kits, artillery and air defense systems, infantry fighting vehicles, turret systems, ammunition, and so on. This is why projects such as Fonet, Topaz, Rak mortar, or ZSSW-30/RTCS-30 should be appreciated, as if they were the crown jewels in the defense industry, making it independent from license manufacturing. These systems can undergo in-depth modernization, or become a springboard for further, independently developed, successful Polish weapons systems. In the case of Rak and ZSSW-30, one can state that they are among the best solutions in their classes. And this is the way that things should be in a European country, that also is an EU and NATO member state, aspiring to develop capabilities and valuable solutions on its own. www.fragoutmag.com