Poland - New Tank / Fire Support Vehicle - Wilk / Wolf
The Polish "Wilk" [Wolf] nomenclature is polysemous, referencing both a requirement for a new tank with substantial Polish designa and production content, as well as an 8×8 fire support vehicle offered in partial fulfillment of this requirement. A "tank" is normally taken as a vehicle armed with a major caliber gun featuring (1) continuous tracks for all-terrain mobility; and (2) a rotating turret; and (3) overall armor protection. Tank destroyers are [typically lightly armored] vehicles mounting an anti-tank gun firing a high-velocity shell on a flat trajectory, for purposes of penetrating tank armor. Assault Guns are [typically lightly armored] vehicles designed to provide direct fire support to infantry against bunkers and other fixed targets impervious to infantry light arms. Such Fire Support Vehicles may look like tanks, but they are not.
Ministry of National Defense was working on a new tank codenamed Wilk ["Program Wilk: nowego czolgu podstawowego" = Wolf Program: New Base Tank] for the Polish Army. This program will be in the Technical Modernization Plan for the next 15 years. The program for building the New Main Battle Tank would replace not only the outdated T-72 and slightly more modern PT-91 (as was the case with the Cheetah), but also, in the future, the ex-German Leopard 2 tanks. According to recent declarations, the new generation European tank, developed by Germany and France, will probably not be in service until 15-20 years. Poland needs new tanks in the Wolf program much earlier to start replacing tanks of the T-72 family.
The Polish government planned in the first half of 2020 to start an international tender for the joint development and production in Poland of new tanks. It is reported that the entire program provides for the creation and production of up to 800 new tanks by Polish industry jointly with a foreign partner, starting in 2023, and its total cost, together with R&D, will amount to $9 billion. The South Korean company Hyundai Rotem (part of the Hyundai Motor Group), which is a designer and manufacturer of South Korean K1 and K2 tanks, and intending to participate in a tender with a proposal to the Polish side to create a tank based tank K2 Black Panther. Hyundai Rotem with a proposal based on K2 is considered to be one of the favorites of the Polish tender in advance, since the Polish side is already showing considerable interest in this proposal. Hyundai Rotem also acts as a partner in the creation of the Turkish Altay tank.
The Wilk 8×8 fire support vehicle is a Polish produced version of the Finnish-made Patria AMV armored personnel carrier (APC) under license fitted with a Cockerill XC8 105-120HP turret, which can integrate 105mm [Wilk] or 120mm [Wilk 2] NATO-standard weapons. Wilk was a temporary demonstration consisting of combining the turret with AMV (Rosomak) chassis. It was never thoroughly tested, beyond the demonstration and theoretical analysis. Wilk is not in service in Polish Army.
WWO WILK is intended to provide support to other types of troops and to fight against ground, air and surface targets. The combination of excellent parameters of the CT-CVTM 105 mm turret system with the mobility and reliability of the KTO Rosomak chassis, proven in combat conditions, provides the User with an effective weapon against a wide spectrum of threats to today's battlefield.
105 mm CT-CVTM tower system
- a two-man turret equipped with a 105 mm cannon, compatible with any available NATO 105 mm ammunition (including the latest "intelligent" ammunition and FALARICK 105 missiles)
- the maximum angle of elevation of the gun 42° allowing operation in urban and mountainous terrain in any weather conditions, day and night
- full stabilization of the gun that allows you to effectively fight against moving targets while driving, with a maximum range of up to 5000 m
- the latest generation of the day-night omnidirectional observation system working in the Hunter-Killer mode
- ammunition container with an automatic loading system
- coupled machine gun of caliber 7.62 or 12.7 mm
- a fully digital, modular fire control system that enables cooperation with any electronic or optoelectronic system
- advanced crew protection system, including STANAG 4569 level 4 armor and contamination protection system
Talks about the possible participation of Poland in the new generation tank program have been conducted, both at the military and industrial level, at least since 2016. At the same time, the Ministry of National Defense has been analyzing the design of the new generation tank codenamed Wilk for some time, it was included in the new Technical Modernization Plan until 2035 as one of the priorities.
In the new generation tank design, the issue of the leading role of Polish industry is of particular importance. The cost of the Wilk program ess tens of billions of zlotys , only when it comes to the purchase of tanks. Suffice it to say that in one report, issued in December 2017, the Ministry of Defense of Germany estimated the cost of the new Leopard 2A7 + at 13-15 million euros, i.e. from 55 to 64 million zlotys. Taking this amount as a reliable estimate, it can be calculated that the cost of 550 tanks needed to replace the T-72 / PT-91 is 30 to 35 billion zlotys, and 800 machines can cost up to 50 billion zlotys.
By 2016 the command of the Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF) was said to be showing interest in the Wilk 8×8 105mm fire support vehicle. Hyundai Rotem proposed a modified MBT to meet the Wilk future tank procurement requirement in Poland. The South Korean manufacturer showcased a model of a polonised K2PL variant of its K2 Black Panther MBT on 8-10 September 2020 during the MSPO exhibition in Kielce.
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