SMG 120 120mm mortar - tracked chassis

Apart from the 64 M120K Rak mortars in the wheeled version, already purchased by the Polish Armed Forces, HSW developed two variants of integrating the autonomous turret system with tracked chassis. Another variant of the Rak was based on the Opal family tracked chassis, also developed at HSW, but with the use of a modern hydropneumatic suspension.

The history of integrating a mortar into a suitable chassis is long and difficult. For the first time such an effort was made when a mortar was planted on the Gvozdika platform; the research has been conducted since 2009. It was dictated by an urgent need, but still treated as a temporary solution. Later, the tower module was transferred to the Light Tracked Chassis, which had been previously developed for the command vehicles of the Regina Squadron Fire Module.

Another change took place when it was decided that the chassis of the German Marder infantry fighting vehicles would be used to mount the mortar. The vehicle constructed in this way appeared at the Kielce trade fair in September 2013. Three years later it appeared on the Light Chassis Track. Ultimately, a chassis from the Opal family was chosen. The engine was replaced with a 260-kilowatt MTU 6V199 and the suspension was revolutionized. It is interesting that the vehicle should be described as a technology demonstrator, but on the other hand, the manufacturer declares its readiness to start production of the tracked version of the Krab. After much reflection, this path may be much shorter than the one traveled so far. Full screening tests will not be necessary.

The prototype was mounted on the UPG chassis (a modernized version of the LPG chassis). The vehicle is powered by the MTU 6V199 engine with a power of 260 kW. The vehicle has a hydropneumatic suspension. The width of the carrier is 2.87 meters and the length is 7.37 meters. The drive used in the vehicle allows for a maximum speed of 60 km / h. The fuel supply in the SMG 120 allows you to cover a distance of 500 km. The carrier allows you to overcome slopes with a slope of up to 60%, the maximum lateral tilt is 30%. It is also possible to overcome vertical obstacles up to 0.4 meters high, ditches up to 2 meters wide and wading to a depth of 1.5 meters. The armor provides ballistic resistance in accordance with level I according to STANAG 4569.

In the future, the Krab fire unit may be mounted on the Borsuk IFV chassis, after successfully passing the qualification tests. In 2013, as part of the MSPO fair , the manufacturer presented the implementation of the mortar on the chassis of the German Marder infantry fighting vehicle. In the future, the Krab fire unit may be mounted on the Badger's chassis after it passes the qualification tests.