On Friday, October 4, 2024, the Ministry of National Defense published an infographic on social media detailing the latest military equipment and weaponry orders for the Polish Armed Forces. For the first time, the number of Carl-Gustaf M4 recoilless rifles ordered on March 4 of this year from the Swedish company Saab Defence and Security was specified.
Photo: Saab Defence and Security
While the quantities for most of the listed orders were known at the time the contracts were signed, for two items only general information about the order size was provided.
On May 28, 2024, a contract worth approximately 735 million USD net (2.871 billion PLN net / 3.531 billion PLN gross) was signed for the delivery of several hundred Lockheed Martin AGM-158B-2 JASSM-ER cruise missiles from a total batch of 821 units, for which Poland received approval on March 12, 2024. It was only on September 11 of this year that Michał Gajzler from Dziennik Zbrojny was the first in the country to publish information from U.S. documents indicating that Poland had ordered 400 units. Today, this number has been officially confirmed by the Ministry of National Defense. The contract for missile production was concluded on September 27 of this year.
The second unknown was the delivery of several thousand Carl-Gustaf M4 anti-tank grenade launchers along with several hundred thousand rounds of ammunition. The contract for this, valued at 12.9 billion SEK net (4.958 billion PLN net, or approximately 1.2 billion USD), was signed on March 4, 2024, during the visit of Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson to Poland, and on June 7 of this year, Saab Defence and Security announced the commencement of the order’s execution.
In this case, it was specified for the first time that the Armament Agency purchased 6,000 grenade launchers, but there is still no information regarding the amount of ammunition.
Additionally, the Ministry of National Defense lists contracts for AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters, the Barbara reconnaissance aerostat system, Kleszcz Light Armored Reconnaissance Carriers (with 28 out of 286 planned units actually ordered), FlyEye Unmanned Aerial Systems, Rosomak 8×8 wheeled infantry fighting vehicles with 30 mm Remote-Controlled Turrets, and nearly 300,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery ammunition.
https://twitter.com/MON_GOV_PL/status/1842157973570740227
Carl Gustaf M4 for Polish Military
Let us recall that the contract with the Swedes covers the delivery of recoilless rifles in the latest production version, along with new Fire Control Devices (FCD 558) and various types of ammunition: anti-armor, high-explosive, anti-tank fragmentation, demolition, multi-purpose, smoke, illuminating, as well as training, practice, and simulation rounds. The Polish Armed Forces will also receive logistics and training packages, along with technical documentation, as part of the deal. The deliveries are scheduled for 2024-2027.
The Carl-Gustaf M4 recoilless rifle is the latest development version of the Carl-Gustaf family of launchers. It is designed to combat all types of modern combat vehicles, including heavy armored vehicles such as tanks. It allows for the elimination of enemy personnel and fortified structures, as well as providing battlefield illumination and smoke screening.
The Carl-Gustaf M4 was unveiled in September 2014 at the Bofors Test Center range in Karlskrona, 23 years after the debut of the previous generation of the system. Qualification tests were conducted in 2015. Weighing 6.7 kg, the M4 is 3.4 kg lighter than its predecessor, thanks to the titanium-composite construction of the barrel and casing, as well as the redesign of some steel components. The new launcher is also shorter (950 mm in length compared to the 1015 mm of the M3). It is equipped with a Picatinny rail, allowing the attachment of additional observation and targeting devices.
The Carl-Gustaf M4 is designed to use all 11 types of 84 mm x 246R ammunition previously used in the earlier generation, including the FFV751 tandem-warhead HEAT, the FFV551 rocket-assisted HEAT, the FFV502 High-Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP), the FFV441B high-explosive round, the FFV469 smoke round, the FFV545 illumination round, the FFV552 training round with the same characteristics as the FFV551, and the FFV752 training round with the same characteristics as the FFV751. The Carl-Gustaf M4 recoilless rifle has an effective range of 300 to 2100 meters, depending on the type of ammunition used.
Work is currently underway on implementing programmable ammunition, which will double the effective range to 1500-2000 meters. In the M4 version, a two-stage safety system has also been introduced, allowing the weapon to be carried with ammunition loaded into the barrel.
Carl-Gustaf recoilless rifles have been adopted by the armed forces of over forty countries, with the latest M4 version being used by fifteen, including Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Hungary, and the USA. Most users are replacing older Carl-Gustaf M2/M3 launchers, which are also in service with the Polish Armed Forces, specifically the Special Forces.