Wiadomości
The new, and most likely final, version of the well-known M120 Rak mortar on a new light tracked chassis (LTC) is without a doubt an important and very interesting premiere in this year’s offer range of HSW SA. Those who remember the previous Rak on a tracked chassis can easily find significant external differences: the armour plates of the front part of the vehicle are shaped differently, the headlight assemblies have a new form, similar to those in the NPBWP Borsuk, the sides are protected with new ballistic shield panels, but, first of all, the vehicle has six, rather than seven, pairs of wheels. These changes have resulted from work carried out during the last two years, since the Rak-G on the previous LTC version, but already equipped with a modern hydro-pneumatic suspension, was displayed at MSPO 2019. This year’s changes are definitely more far-reaching, as the chassis displayed now is no longer just an extensive upgrade of the 122 mm Goździk self-propelled howitzer chassis that included the use of the lower hull part, as obtained from worn-out Army surplus Goździks, but it is a new structure, developed completely by HSW SA from the concept stage, through design, up to manufacture. It has utilised the experience of several years of operation of the 155 mm Krab self-propelled howitzer-gun and of the testing of NPBWP Borsuk prototypes, mainly in the design of the hydro-pneumatic suspension.
The new LTC hydraulic chassis provides a much higher level of anti-mine and ballistic protection than the previous one, which translates into crew and vehicle safety, better traction in difficult terrain, higher performance and better crew comfort. Importantly, it is more effective in suppressing Rak oscillation after each shot, which will facilitate the completion of work on a significant increase in the M120 rate of fire, from the current 8–10 to even 12–13 rounds per minute.
It is obvious that the new vehicle fits within the concept of modular design of artillery systems that assumes the maximum unification of equipment with the optimum level of employment of existing technical solutions. The new chassis can be used not only by the tracked Rak, but also by the remaining vehicles of the Rak company fire modules in their heavier, tracked variant: the command and reconnaissance vehicles. It can also successfully fulfil the role of a carrier for the DMO Regina command vehicles, currently delivered on the same LTC chassis developed from the Goździk one, as used in the Rak-G. The new LTC may also provide a starting point to develop a tracked version of the tank destroyer or the scattered mining system, as well as an ambulance or an engineering support vehicle, for example.
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