According to information published on the Twitter account of the Polish Minister of Defense Mariusz Błaszczak, on July 20, 2022, in the framework of the Ottokar Brzoza program the Polish Ministry of Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak approved a contract for the Polish army to deliver a new 4×4 anti-tank armored vehicle armed with MBDA Brimstone missile.
The Ottokar Brzoza is a program of the Polish army that was launched in 2019 with the goal to replace the old-soviet-made BRDM-2 Sagger. The development of the new vehicle will be lead by the PGZ-OTTOKAR Consortium including the the Polish companies Huta Stalowa Wola, Mesko and Wojskowe Zakłady Elektroniczne.
The BRDM-2 Sagger also called 9P122 Mlyutka is a Soviet-made anti-tank vehicle that is based on the BRDM-2 4×4 reconnaissance armored vehicle. The original turret has been removed and replaced with an αям on top of which are mounted six `Sagger’ AT-3 ATGWs. When traveling, they are within the hull but in action, the αям is raised above the top of the hull complete with overhead armor protection. The missiles can be launched from within the vehicle or from up to 80 m away with the aid of a separation sight. The Sagger missile has a maximum firing range of 3,000 m.
The new anti-tank vehicle for the polish army will be based on a 4×4 armored vehicle developed by the Polish Defense industry using components of the truck manufacturer Jelcz. It will be jointly developed by the Polish company Huta Stalowa Wola SA in cooperation with Autosan and the Czech partner Tatra Export. According to the pictures released by the Polish website Defence 24, the vehicle seems to be based on the Patriot, a 4×4 armored vehicle.
Citing information from the Defence 24 website, the new Polish 4×4 anti-tank armored vehicle will be equipped with a launcher pod armed with Brimstone anti-tank guided missiles developed by MBDA UK. The Brimstone was developed by MBDA to be used as an air-launched ground attack missile for the British Air Force. Brimstone has a Tandem Shaped Charge (TSC) warhead that employs a smaller initial charge, designed to initiate reactive armor, followed by a larger, more destructive charge, designed to penetrate and defeat the base armor.
MBDA has newly developed a surface-to-surface version of the Brimstone that can be used as an anti-tank missile. The land version of the Brimstone missile is able to reach a target at a range of up to 12 km.
The Polish Ministry of Defense Mariusz Błaszcza announced that the first prototype of the new anti-tank armored vehicle will be delivered next year to the 14th Anti-Tank Regiment. It is planned that the first operational vehicle will be delivered in the next three years.
