Land Forces
Polish Ministry of Defence Acquires Heavy Duty Vehicles for the Territorial Defence Units
According to the information released by the Polish MoD, on 16th May this year an agreement is going to be signed by and between the Ministry and the Jelcz Sp. z o.o company, concerning the prospective procurement of 500 medium-sized high mobility Jelcz 442.32 trucks, along with a logistics and training packages. The aforesaid vehicles are going to be received by the Territorial Defence units.
The event of signing would also be attended by the Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz. The agreement, concerning the 500 Jelcz 442.32 platforms means that the negotiation between the MoD and the company have been successful. At the end of April this year, the Armament Inspectorate was claiming that negotiation concerning the medium-load vehicles is currently underway.
According to the previously released information, the deliveries are going to take place 2017 and 2019. The agreement, the value of which is estimated as PLN 400 million, assumes that 97 vehicles would be delivered within the scope of guaranteed quantity, along with 403 examples that could be procured optionally. What is more, in February this year Col. Sławomir Lewandowski, Chief Specialist at the Armament Inspectorate of the Polish Ministry of Defence, assured that the Ministry is willing to initiate the Jelcz high mobility medium-sized vehicles for the Territorial Defence component quite soon.
The acquisition of the aforesaid platforms is to allow the Polish Army to continue the procurement of vehicles that would unify the inventory belonging to the said group. The Armament Inspectorate is willing to replenish the Polish vehicle fleet and complement it with platforms that would have unified design or technical specs sheet, also in comparison to the platforms that are already being used. This will make maintenance and repairs within the fleet much easier.
Up until now, 476 vehicles of this type in a box-shaped load bed variant, as well as 117 specialized bodywork variants, have been received by the Polish Armed Forces, with the latter ones being utilized in a role of a carrier of specialized communications suites and systems that would be used to defend the units of the Polish Army from the NCBR threats. The Agreement signed by and between the Polish Ministry of Defence and the Jelcz company assumes that 910 platforms of this type would be delivered before the year 2018. Jelcz 442 platform was to replace the heavy duty vehicles already operated within the Polish Armed Forces. Star 266/266M platforms, being the most obsolete ones, were to be replaced first. Back in the year 2013, the Army was in possession of 13 thousand vehicles as such.
Jelcz 442.32 is a special purpose 4x4 high mobility platform, tailored to be driven on the hardened surfaces, as well as offroad. The said vehicle has been designed to transport unexploded ordnance, materials and specialized equipment. The design of the load bed of the Jelcz 442.32 platform, once the mantle, guards and side-boards are removed, makes it possible to set up benches, which would enable the vehicle to transport up to 24 soldiers.