On Wednesday, 3 December 2025, the Armament Agency published information on the outcome of the tender procedure for the delivery of NSCh-40M signal cartridges for chemical reconnaissance units of the Polish Armed Forces. The procedure had been conducted as a restricted tender since 22 April of this year.
Chemical reconnaissance vehicle BRDM-2RS during the Żbik 2008 exercise / Photo: Ministry of National Defence
The deadline for submitting requests to participate in the procedure passed on 27 August (originally set for 21 May). The only bid admitted to the tender was submitted by Mesko, a company from Skarżysko-Kamienna belonging to Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ), which priced its offer at 21,976,350 PLN (the initial estimated value was 14,550,000 PLN net / 17,896,500 PLN gross). The offer was selected on 5 November, and the contract with the contractor was signed on 24 November. The contract period is 36 months.
The subject of the order is the delivery of 13,800 NSCh-40M signal cartridges (including a guaranteed order of 5250 units and an optional order of no more than 8550 units). The cartridges are intended to provide visual and acoustic warnings and alerts of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) contamination.
The cartridges can be fired manually by a soldier or electrically from a launcher installed on the BRDM-2RS/RSM chemical reconnaissance vehicle. Each signal cartridge consists of a propulsion unit and a pyrotechnic signaling assembly. Both components are housed inside a casing, forming a rocket that is hermetically sealed within the launcher. Ignition is provided by an ignition assembly.
The previous order for these cartridges was carried out by the 2nd Regional Logistic Base in Warsaw. On 3 August 2022, it awarded Mesko a contract worth 7,463,300 PLN for the supply of 6500 cartridges for the years 2023–2025.
The BRDM-2RS/RSM is a specialized variant of the BRDM-2 armored reconnaissance vehicle. Its successor in the Polish Armed Forces is to be the lightweight armored reconnaissance transporter (TRSk) codenamed EOS. Consultations on its procurement are to be completed by September 2025. The vehicles will be based on the chassis of the Lightweight Armored Reconnaissance Transporter (LOTR) Kleszcz, already contracted from AMZ-Kutno – with the first 28 vehicles to be delivered from 2026 under a framework agreement for 286 units.
