During the 29th edition of Eurosatory 2026, the international defense industry exhibition organized by Coges Events and taking place on June 15–19 this year at Paris-Nord Villepinte near Paris, Bielsko-Biała-based Szczęśniak Special Vehicles (Szczęśniak Pojazdy Specjalne S.A.) is presenting a heavy recovery and technical rescue vehicle built on a Scania R520 8×8 HZ chassis, developed and manufactured for the Swedish Armed Forces.
Photos: Jakub Link-Lenczowski, MILMAG
The vehicle on display is intended for operational support, including the recovery and towing of damaged or immobilized vehicles in demanding terrain and combat conditions. The design is based on a Scania R520 8×8 chassis fitted with a 520-hp (383-kW) engine and a three-person cab. Its equipment includes five winches, including a Sepson Septrac main winch with a pulling force of 9 to 20 tonnes, as well as a main boom crane with a lifting capacity of 24 tonnes, one auxiliary crane with a lifting capacity of 15 tonnes, and two auxiliary cranes with a lifting capacity of 10 tonnes each. In addition, the vehicle carries nearly 300 recovery accessories, including an 11.7-tonne self-recovery winch. The gross vehicle weight rating is 52 tonnes.
The vehicle is part of a contract for the Swedish Armed Forces, signed on March 19, 2026, with the FMV (Försvarets materielverk) defense procurement agency under Sweden’s Ministry of Defense, covering the delivery of 35 heavy recovery and technical rescue vehicles. Deliveries are planned for 2027–2029. The contract marks another stage in the company’s growing cooperation in the Scandinavian market, as it follows a four-year framework agreement signed on February 17, 2025, worth 600 million SEK, at the time PLN 225.29 million, with an option to extend it by another three years. The first annex under that agreement launched an initial batch of 10 vehicles.
Szczęśniak Special Vehicles is a Polish, family-owned manufacturer of special-purpose vehicles that has been active on the market for 34 years. For many years, the company has supplied specialized vehicles to rescue services and armed forces in Poland and abroad, expanding its presence, including on European markets.
The company already has experience in building military vehicles of this type. For the Polish Armed Forces’ Heavy Wheeled Recovery and Technical Rescue Vehicle program, known as CKPEiRT Hardun, it built and offered the KWZT-1 Mamut vehicle on a Tatra T815-7Z0R9T 44 440 8×8.1R chassis, in cooperation with the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Military University of Technology and the Military Institute of Armored and Automotive Technology. However, the contract was won by Rosomak, part of the Polish Armaments Group, which offered a vehicle based, interestingly, on the Scania CB 8×8 chassis, now no longer in production. Ultimately, however, Mamut served as the basis for the development of the KWZT-2 for the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces and the KWZT-3 for the Czech Republic.