On Monday, September 1, 2025, the American company Northrop Grumman announced on social media the delivery to Huta Stalowa Wola (part of the Polish Armaments Group, PGZ) of a batch of 30 mm ATK Mk 44/S Bushmaster II automatic cannons, intended for 111 Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles for the Polish Armed Forces, contracted by the Ministry of National Defence.
Photo: Grzegorz Sobczak, MILMAG
The Mk 44 Stretch Bushmaster II is a modified version of the Mk 44 Bushmaster II cannon, adapted to fire 30×173 mm NATO programmable ammunition of the Mk310 PABM-T (Programmable Air Burst Munition – Tracer) type, which is effective against targets in cover as well as drones. The Mk 44 is derived from the 25 mm M242 Bushmaster automatic cannon, with which it shares approximately 70% of its components. The Mk 44/S Bushmaster II enables fire in both automatic and semi-automatic modes, using five different types of ammunition, including the aforementioned programmable rounds.
On March 27 of this year, the Polish Armament Agency, acting on behalf of the Ministry of National Defence, concluded a contract worth 6.57 billion PLN gross for the delivery, in the years 2025–2029, of the first batch of 111 Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles under a framework agreement for approximately 1,400 vehicles, including around 1,000 infantry fighting vehicles and about 400 specialist vehicles, such as Żuk tracked reconnaissance carriers, Oset tracked command vehicles, Gotem medical evacuation vehicles, Gekon armored recovery vehicles, and Ares contamination reconnaissance carriers (First Borsuks Contracted).
Interestingly, the option for licensed production and servicing of these cannons by Huta Stalowa Wola (HSW) was the subject of a draft offset agreement during Phase I of the Wisła program, concluded on March 23, 2018, with Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. In January 2021, HSW announced the start of negotiations on this matter with Northrop Grumman. According to information dated February 22, 2024, provided by the then Management Board Member for Development, Dr. Eng. Przemysław Kowalczuk, at Mesko, the company from Skarżysko-Kamienna is supporting HSW in the construction of a test facility (Test Range) for trials of these cannons.
The above-mentioned cannon constitutes the main armament of the ZSSW-30 Remote-Controlled Turret System, developed by HSW and the WB Group. This system is also being fitted to modernized Rosomak 8×8 wheeled infantry fighting vehicles and to newly ordered, lengthened KTO Rosomak-L 8×8 wheeled armored personnel carriers. The auxiliary armament of the ZSSW-30 consists of a modified 7.62 mm ZMT UKM-2000C machine gun coaxially mounted with the cannon, while additional armament includes a twin launcher for Spike LR anti-tank guided missiles, produced by Mesko under license from the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
Bringing the Boom to Borsuk 💥
We’re delivering the Mk44 Stretch Bushmaster® Chain Gun® to HSW’s next-generation Borsuk infantry fighting vehicle, bringing legendary reliability and precision to Polish Defense Forces. pic.twitter.com/PYjtKAe9ib
— Northrop Grumman (@northropgrumman) September 1, 2025
