WARSAW ($1=4.77 Polish Zlotys) — The Polish Army has ordered additional artillery to bolster its capabilities. The Polish Army will receive 48 domestically produced Krab self-propelled howitzers.

The agreement was worth 3.81 billion zlotys [approx. $799 million] between the Armaments Agency of the Ministry of National Defense of Poland and the company Huta Stalowa Wola S.A. signed today. Krzysztof Platek, a spokesman for the agency, announced the details on Twitter.

The military will receive 48 self-propelled artillery units Krab and 22 command vehicles, 12 ammunition transport vehicles, and 2 mobile weapon repair workshops. The Armed Forces of Poland are to receive military equipment and equipment in 2025-2027. Self-propelled guns are produced at the Huta Stalowa Wola plant. This enterprise is part of the state-holding Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa.

Ukraine is also armed with Krab artillery units – it received them as military aid from Poland. The first batches of such installations are already performing combat tasks at the front.

About Krab SPH

Krab SPH [ASH Krab] is a Polish self-propelled tracked gun-howitzer, which is a NATO standard 155mm caliber. AHS Krab is a product that is a mix of the South Korean self-propelled howitzer K9 Thunder and British AS-90M Braveheart turret with a 52-caliber gun and WB Electronics’ “Topaz” artillery fire control system. Officially, it is currently in service only in the Polish army. The only battle in which there is documented participation in the Ukrainian-Russian war in 2022.

The howitzer was designed nearly 20 years ago, but serial production began only in 2015 [modified version]. According to official data, 80 units of this howitzer were produced in a total of three variants.

The AHS Krab is manned by a five-member crew, weighs nearly 48 tons, and has the following dimensions: length: 12.05 m [39 ft 6 in], width: 3.60 m [11 ft 10 in], and height: 3.00 m]. AHS Krab can fire a maximum of six rounds per minute [rpm], and the range is 3d or 40 km [40 km if using a base bleed round]. In addition to the 155mm cannon, the field howitzer also has a 12.7mm WKM-B .50 BMG heavy machine gun.

An STX Engine STX-MTU MT881Ka-500 8-cylinder water-cooled diesel engine powers the AHS Krab delivering 735 kW [1,000 hp] at 2,700 rpm. The transmission is SNT Dynamics X1100-5A3 4 forward, 2 reverse, while the suspension is hydropneumatic. 400 km is the maximum distance that AHS Krab can cover by refueling a tank, and the maximum speed reaches 67 km / h.