In December 2025, the Polish armed forces the first Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles were handed over to the. It is a milestone. The Borsuk is a largely Polish development, highly modern and suitable for export.
This is the first armored personnel carrier developed from scratch and manufactured in Poland to be used by the Polish army, explained Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz at the signing ceremony for the first vehicles in the program. signing of the contract for the first vehicles of the Borsuk program in March last year. The Polish Minister of Defense was not sparing with superlatives with regard to the war equipment: he spoke of “absolute competitiveness” and the “highest product class”.
The first batch of 111 Borusk will be manufactured by HSW in Stalowa Wola in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains; the first 15 were handed over to the Polish armed forces in December. This rapid implementation was made possible by the fact that the manufacturer had made advance payments and had already started production; five prototypes were already in the army’s inventory. The framework agreement provides for the massive purchase of 1,400 vehicles.
In fact, the Borsuk represents a turning point for Poland in several respects. For the armed forces, it is a huge technological step forward. This is because the infantry fighting vehicle is one of the most modern on the market today and replaces vehicles in Poland that were designed in the Soviet Union, namely the BWP-1. The Borsuk now has modern armament, offers appropriate protection and is designed for networked combat. The infantry fighting vehicle therefore meets the guidelines of NATO-armies; it is designed to defend against drones and is amphibious. The fact that the Borsuk can move through rivers or lakes without additional attachments is a special feature of the model that sets it apart from the competition, the Lynx from Rheinmetall or the Swedish CV90 from BAE Systemssets it apart from the competition.
“Above all, however, the program is important for Polish industry. Because the Borsuk is a truly Polish product. It has never been seen before,” explains Marek Swierczynski in an interview with Militär Aktuell. The renowned security expert from the Warsaw think tank “Polityka Insight” sees the relatively light and even buoyant Borsuk, which weighs 28 tons, as “definitely suitable for export”.
The Borsuk infantry fighting vehicle is primarily intended to meet the needs of the Polish armed forces, but will also attract interest on the export market.
The platform is indeed a work of Polish industry. It creates added value in the country. At first glance, this may not seem like a novelty. After all, the Polish-made Krab self-propelled howitzer became famous in 2022. Poland handed over several units to the Ukrainian army. The AHS Krab, to give it its full name – AHS is the Polish abbreviation for self-propelled howitzer – is also assembled by HSW. However, the main components and the design of the howitzer come from foreign manufacturers in South Korea, Great Britain and Germany.
The Borsuk is not only important for Polish industry, it also marks a change of strategy in Poland’s arms procurement – which is likely to be closely followed in European capitals. After all, no NATO country has rearmed at the same pace as Poland in recent years and has won the approval of its partners in the process.
Polen auf dem Weg zur stärksten Armee Europas
As a neighboring country of Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia, Poland feels particularly threatened. It is already exposed to an increase in “hybrid activities”: sabotage, espionage and, last but not least, the migration crisis staged by Russia’s ally Belarus on the Polish-Belarusian border since 2021.
This leads to a pronounced understanding of increased defense spending among the population. Exploding costs and a lack of transparency in procurement are often not even questioned. This is one reason why Poland was able to make arms purchases more quickly than any other NATO country after Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022.
“It was all done under an ‘urgent operational need’. In such a case, there is no tender, no tests, nothing,” says expert Swierczynski about Poland’s procurement, which picked up speed under the Law and Justice (PiS) party government. “This procedure is actually an exception. The PiS has made it the rule.” But he does not criticize this, says Swierczynski. “After the outbreak of the war, Poland gave a lot of equipment to Ukraine, around thirty percent of its stocks.” These stocks should be replenished quickly.
Poland has ordered numerous systems from South Korea – including 48 of the KAI FA-50 multi-role fighter.
Poland has just bought what was immediately available in South Korea. Poland, the largest country on NATO’s eastern flank, will soon have the largest European NATO forces, and its land forces in particular make those of France, Germany and Italy look small. However, the fact that Warsaw has purchased market-available equipment has led to Poland having different models in some of the same types of weapon, which makes maintenance and logistics more difficult. Poland has around 250 Leopard 2 main battle tanks in its inventory, while a total of around 1,000 South Korean K2 main battle tanks and around 400 American Abrams tanks have been delivered or ordered. There is a similar confusion when it comes to rocket artillery and self-propelled howitzers.
With the Borsuk infantry fighting vehicle, Poland now appears to be focusing on domestic industry. “With Donald Tusk taking over the reins of government, we have entered a new phase: I now see a longer period of thinking about equipment and concepts,” says expert Swierczynski. The time of snap orders is therefore over.
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