Borsuk is seen as an attempt to modernize Polish infantry fighting vehicles to suit the modern battlefield.
Poland is developing a new generation of domestic infantry fighting vehicles called Borsuk, designed to replace the obsolete BWP-1 IFV in the Polish army. Currently, the Polish Army operates more than 1,000 BWP-1s.
Tests were conducted in 2020 with a 30mm turret. The Borsuk is equipped with the ZSSW-30 unmanned weapons station, which was developed by a consortium led by HSW, with support provided by WB Electronics. The 30 mm Bushmaster Mk 44 gun can fire ABM ammunition and be converted to a 40 mm caliber. It is also armed with a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun and dual Spike ATGM launcher. The turret also features an advanced fire control system with an auto tracker, and two optronic systems for the gunner, and the commander.
The Borsuk layout is divided in three main parts with driver position at the front left side of the hull with the powerpack on its right, a turret mounted in the middle of the top hull, and a troops compartment at the rear. The vehicle is fully amphibious and propelled in the water thanks to the use of water jets mounted at the rear of the chassis.
The Borsuk has a crew of three including a driver, commander and gunner, and will have the capacity to carry a total of up to 8 military personnel. The design of the Borsuk is based on a modular armor that can be configured according to mission requirements. In standard configuration, the hull and the turret provide protection against the firing of small, artillery shell splinters and mine blasts of improvised explosive devices.
The Borsuk is powered by by a MTU 8V199 TE20 diesel engine developing 8,720 hp. The suspension of the Borsuk consists on either side of six road wheels with a drive sprocket at the front and an idler at the rear. It features a composite rubber track system supplied by the Canadian company Soucy Defense. It can run at a maximum road speed of 70 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 600 km.
It was also planned that the baseline variant will weight around 25 tons and there will be a more heavily armored variant with a combat weight of over 40 t and without amphibious capability. This variant is as heavy as the T-72 main battle tank. It is in the same class of armored vehicles as the German Puma heavy IFV. It is estimated that a single Borsuk IFV could cost around $6.6 million. Cost of the Polish remotely-controlled turret would constitute almost 50% of the vehicle value.
