On December 16th the Polish Ministry of Defence and Military Armament Works (Wojskowe Zaklady Uzbrojenia, WZU), a member of the Polish Armaments Group (Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa, PGZ), signed a contract for delivery of 8 transport-loading trucks. The agreement has a value of over 54 million Polish Zloty (12,6 million Euro), and includes also logistic and training packages as well as repair/maintenance service option.
The Polish MoD signed a contract for delivery of a series of Jelcz utility trucks, which will be used for implementation of the 1st phase of the ‘Wisla’ medium-range air-and-missile defence programme / Image: WZU/PGZ
Deliveries of utility trucks, along with trailers and communication systems, should conclude by September 2022. These new vehicles will be used to transport and load on launchers various medium range missile systems operated by the first squadron (consisting of two batteries) of the Polish IBCS-based Patriot air-and-missile defence system, which will be commissioned under the ongoing ‘Wisla’ programme.
New transport-loading vehicles will be based on the locally designed Jelcz 882 series chassis, featuring an armoured crew cabin, an 8×8 drive system with an MTU engine, as well as a loading crane and a two-axis trailer designed by Autosan. It is expected that each vehicle will be able to transport up to 12 missiles plus an additional dozen loaded on the trailer.