WZT ARV (Series)

History of the WZT ARV (series)

Like other countries affected by the Soviet Union during the Cold War (1947-1991), Poland benefited (militarily at least) from its relationship with the superpower. Various weapon designs can be derived from this relationship, from small arms and aircraft to vehicles and main battle tanks.

Due to the availability of Soviet Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) such as the T-55 and T-72 series, the Polish Army adopted Armored Rescue Vehicles (ARVs) based on these original Soviet designs. The Soviet BTS-1 based on the T-54 MBT was purchased by Poland in the late 1960s.

Ultimately, this experience prompted the country to invest in a series of similar vehicles under the name "Woz Zabezpieczenia Technicznego" (literally "Armored Rescue Vehicle") or simply "WZT".

In addition to the Soviet-inspired ARVs, the collection also includes ARVs based on the hull of the local Polish PT-91 "Twardy" MBT, which in turn was based on the Soviet T-72M1. The series has since included WZT-1, WZT-2, WZT-3, WZT-3M and WZT-4-91M tanks based on the respective airframes of the T-55, T-55A, T-72M, PT-91 and PT. The WZT-1 remained in service until 1978.

The WZT-4 was developed for the Malaysian Army.

The Polish Army no longer relies on the old WZT-ARV series form, although some existing hulls are used for other battlefield roles. It retains about 29 WZT-3M variants as its standard ARV, deployed alongside the standard MBT Twardy.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

No.

Changes