Polish state-owned defence behemoth PGZ unveiled the long-awaited Ciężki Bojowy Wóz Piechoty (CBWP – heavy infantry fighting vehicle) in Kielce on 8 September. Built by subsidiary Huta Stalowa Wola (HSW), the CBWP has been seen in model form before – at MSPO 2025 – but never as a pre-production artefact. The company intends to have a fully functioning prototype available by the end of this year.
With a high level of crew protection and mobility, the heavyweight IFV sports the ZSSW-30 remote-controlled turret already installed on Poland’s Rosomak and Borsuk AFVs. Developed by HSW and WB Group, the turret incorporates a 30mm Bushmaster cannon, 7.62mm coaxial machine-gun and twin launchers for the Spike-LR ATGW, suiting it well for the hunter-killer role that will deliver tactical advantage in next-generation manoeuvre warfare.
Intended for a 3-man crew and 8 dismounts, CBWP draws on the chassis design of Poland’s Krab SPH rather than an uprated Borsuk chassis. This design decision was apparently taken in light of the exacting role)s) the vehicle is required to fulfil – engaging armoured and ‘soft’ targets, field emplacements and fortifications while providing fire support to infantry on the FEBA by day or night in all weather conditions. At stake are “several hundred” production vehicles for the Ministry of National Defence, under a framework agreement signed with the National Armament Agency in mid-2023.
The model shown at MSPO 2025 under the project name Ratel was an approx. 40t design featuring an Obra-3 laser warning/protection system, an NBC protection suite and a 2+6/8 crew capacity. The newly unveiled vehicle promises a somewhat higher weight, with front armour allegedly impervious to 30x173mm AP from 500m and STANAG 4569 Level 6 protection. It is apparently designed to accept ERA, presumably the modular indigenous Pangolin system, to provide additional protection against shaped charge warheads. Definitely different animal from the Borsuk, it nevertheless shows some of its lighter companion’s DNA: “It looks like a Borsuk that’s been eating Popeye’s spinach,” commented one observer at the show.
Headline image shows the CBWP as unveiled at MSPO on 8 September. (Andrzej Marszewski)
