Makers of the Rosomak APC, WZM SA at Siemianowice Śląskie prepare no less than two premieres for the 19th MSPO (5-8 September 2011) at Kielce. The show will see the debut of the wheeled fire support vehicle armed with a 105 mm gun built on Rosomak (Wolverine) chassis and of the Rosomak APC simulator for initial and advanced training of drivers, called Rosiczka (Sundew).
The fire support vehicle was made by fitting an off-the-shelf CT-CV turret from Belgian Cockerill Maintenance & Ingenierie (CMI) corporation on a standard Rosomak hull. Belgian engineers have completed its integration with the Polish APC in mid-August 2011. In this form the fire support vehicle is ready for gunnery trials. It has turned out that the Rosomak design is very adaptable (thanks to its modular construction), While fitting the turret has only required very minor alteration to the combat compartment. The turret was fitted during one day, adding a new power supply box in the hull with two rectifiers!
The Belgians have brought to Siemianowice Śląskie the CT-CV turret armed with a 105 mm gun that can fire (apart from anti-tank and multi-purpose artillery shells) Falarick ATMs (guided by a laser beam, developed by the Belgians in cooperation with the Ukrainian Luch design bureau from Kiev). The CT-CV turret has been displayed, as a separate assembly, during MSPO 2010 in Kielce. It was then made available to all interested parties at the Wojskowy Instytut Techniki Pancernej i Samochodowej (WITPS; Military Institute of Armoured and Automotive Technology) at Sulejówek. The turret is equipped with an automatic ammunition feeder (12-16 rounds). It has been planned to instal 33 such Belgian turrets on Portuguese wheeled support vehicles to be built based on Austrian eight-wheel Pandurs.
In all probability the Rosomak with the CT-CV turret will be seen in September in Kielce in buff camouflage to symbolise the whole system offered for the operation of withdrawing our troops from Afghanistan, and also to make the fire support variant of the Rosomak APC attractive to potential foreign customers expected to visit the Kielce show.
Another Siemianowice novelty that has every chance to compete to the show's laurels is the Rosiczka, the Rosomak APC driver simulator. The simulator has been developed in cooperation with the Warsaw-based Trinity Interactive company. The driver's office, the APC's cockpit, is equipped with all authentic and working vehicle control systems and controls. The trainee drives the Rosiczka while watching the display through the Rosomak driver's vision device, so the approximation of real conditions is substantial. The instructor supervising the trainee can use software to stage difficult terrain, snow, mud or mist…
The simulator is an important input of Siemianowice designers into rational training of Rosomak crews, now all professionals. WZM S.A. is already training crews for the combat turrets of the APCs and introducing them to maintenance necessary for proper operation of the carriers under all conditions. This means that Polish industry, like others throughout the world, is beginning to draw income from post-production contracts connected with rights to the armament systems it builds (servicing, maintenance, training).
Photos: Wojciech Łuczak