Poland signs a record €17.2 billion contract for 1,400 Borsuk armoured vehicles
A historic contract in Poland for a booming arms industry. The figure is staggering: 1,400 tracked armored vehicles ordered by the Polish Ministry of Defense. Huta Stalowa Wola (HSW) formalized this major framework contract on May 7, 2025, marking a strategic shift for the Polish ground forces. Of these 1,400 units, 1,014 will be Borsuk Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs), with the remainder being specialized versions for reconnaissance, command, medical evacuation, and combat engineering. This is the most ambitious armored modernization program ever launched by Warsaw.
Deputy Minister Paweł Bejda said: “It happened. We will produce Borsuk in Poland. One hundred percent of Polish technological thought. We are fulfilling what we went to the elections with, with Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, saying that at least 50% of spending on armaments should stay in Polish armaments plants. Today we are fulfilling our promise. This is a very great day for soldiers who will use this very modern and safe equipment with the most modern unmanned turret in the world. Borsuk also means technical support vehicles, medical vehicles, command vehicles, chemical reconnaissance vehicles – this is a whole set of vehicles that will serve in the Polish Army.”
1,400 Borsuk tracked armored vehicles for a Polish army undergoing major changes
This wave of purchases follows an initial order placed in March 2025 for 111 vehicles worth 6.5 billion zlotys, or approximately 1.5 billion euros, which means that the new order could be worth between 16.7 and 17.2 billion euros, depending on the revised unit cost. This initial stage has enabled the Borsuk's performance to be validated in real conditions and its large-scale production to be tested. The agreement announced in May is a continuation of this process. It marks a definitive break with the BWP-1, a Cold War-era armored vehicle derived from the famous Soviet BMP-1. Produced in the 1970s, it no longer meets contemporary standards of protection or firepower.
The Borsuk (which means Badger in Polish) has some impressive features. It is fully amphibious and capable of crossing rivers without technical assistance, a significant advantage in a country crossed by more than 150,000 kilometers of waterways. Its armament is on a completely different level to its predecessor: a ZSSW-30 remote-controlled turret, a 30 mm Bushmaster II automatic cannon, and Spike-LR anti-tank missiles. Its armor is modular, allowing protection to be reinforced according to operational requirements: shrapnel, direct fire, mines.
One of the Borsuk's technical advantages is its modular design, which allows for the development of numerous variants without having to start from scratch each time. This flexibility reduces costs, facilitates maintenance, and speeds up production. Here are some of the variants being considered:
- Mobile command posts
- Armored medical evacuation vehicles
- All-terrain reconnaissance units
- Mine clearance or crossing assistance systems
This approach streamlines the Polish army's logistics while increasing its ability to adapt to asymmetric or conventional conflicts. This armored vehicle program illustrates the rapid rise of the Polish defense sector, which is now capable of independently designing, producing, and testing NATO-level equipment. HSW, supported by the state-owned PGZ group, has invested heavily in robotization, digital simulation, and automated test benches.
The Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicle
One of the new projects that engineers at Huta Stalowa Wola are working on is the Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The vehicle is designed in accordance with the concept of dualism of armored equipment in the Polish Armed Forces. In addition to lighter, amphibious Infantry Fighting Vehicles such as the Borsuk and lighter tanks such as the K2 Black Panther, heavier, better armored and more survivable vehicles will be introduced, such as the M1A1FEP and M1A2SEPv3 Abrams tanks and, Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicles.
There are reports of searches for foreign designs, such as the AS21 Redback designed in South Korea for Australia, as well as information about potential interest in other platforms, such as the Turkish Tulpar, the German KF41 Lynx, or systems with similar characteristics, such as the ASCOD 2. There is no doubt that the most beneficial solution from the point of view of Polish industry and the Polish economy is to develop our own design and the new vehicle might be built using the experience and components developed as part of the Borsuk Infantry Fighting Vehicle program and other projects carried out by HSW, which would offer the advantage of unification.
A key element of the unification is the installation of the same ZSSW-30 remote-controlled turret system. As a result, the armament will be unified with the Borsuk Infantry Fighting Vehicle and the Rosomak wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier. Extending the scope of unification to the Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicle may shorten development, factory testing, and qualification times. Unification may also include components such as auxiliary power units, NBC protection systems, heating and cooling systems, fire protection systems, and the placement of spare ammunition and soldier equipment.
The vehicle may also use the same solutions for the crew layout and the transported infantry squad, their seats, periscopes, internal and external lighting, as well as elements such as the camouflage system or the drive wheels. At the same time, it will be necessary to use a new, more powerful engine, which may lead to unification with the AHS Krab and K9 howitzers. The tracks will also need to be adapted to the greater weight of the vehicle. And the biggest differences will be in ballistic and mine protection, which should exceed that used in the Borsuk.
The Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicle project is a huge opportunity for the Polish industry to build competence in the design and manufacture of heavy armored combat vehicles. It is also an important project from the point of view of the Polish Armed Forces, which could purchase Infantry Fighting Vehicles with a significantly higher level of protection for the crew and the infantry team being transported. Such vehicles could also support tanks by accompanying them directly in combat thanks to their heavier armor, and more effectively support infantry, e.g., during combat in urban areas.
Poland: strategic supplier for European armies?
By strengthening its industrial capacity, Poland also aims to become a strategic supplier for European armies, particularly in the Baltic and Central European countries. This position could guarantee export opportunities in the years to come. None of this would have been possible without a huge military budget. In 2025, Poland will spend 186.6 billion zlotys, or around 43 billion euros, on defense, equivalent to 4.7% of its GDP (a record among NATO member countries). By way of comparison, France spends around 2%. The Borsuk program is thus becoming the spearhead of a two-pronged strategy: strengthening the country's operational capacity while consolidating national industrial independence in an increasingly tense European context, particularly in relation to its troublesome neighbor Russia.
