Poland has recently sent 18 long-range 155 mm AHS Krab SpGH to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Yesterday it became known about the contract for another 54 self-propelled artillery vehicles of this type, which was signed between Poland and Ukraine.
The deal amounts to 2.7 billion PLN, which is approximately $630 million. This is the largest arms supply contract in the history of modern Poland. Ukraine receives part of the money to finance the agreement from the EU.
"Today we are signing one of the largest arms contracts in the last thirty years - the sale of weapons to Ukraine”, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki comments on this event. "These weapons are well-tested and we know they will be very important on the battlefield."
As we have already written, in 2016 the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland ordered 122 AHS Krab howitzers, 80 of which are already in the army. It is believed that the production capacity of the plant Huta Stalowa Wola, which manufactures these self-propelled artillery vehicles, is 20-30 units per year, which is the implementation of the Ukrainian contract will theoretically take more than 2 years… Or Poland will send to Ukraine the self-propelled artillery vehicles that it has now, and then gradually compensate for the shortage through new supplies.
Interestingly, the cost of one unit under the new contract is about $11.6 million. Once in 2016, Poland paid $11.46 for the same equipment, which, taking into account inflation, is even more than Ukraine is paying now. That is, Poland sells us weapons even cheaper than it buys them on its own.
Dziękuję bardzo Polsko!
Specifications
Weight – 48 tons
Length – 12.05 m
Width – 3.60 m
Height – 3.00 m
Crew – 5
Caliber – 155 mm
Bore length – 52 calibers
Firing rate – 6 shots/minute
Effective firing range – 30 km
Maximum firing range – 40 km
Armor – steel POSCO MIL-12560H
Secondary weapons - machine guns WKM-B .50 BMG
Powerplant – STX-MTU MT881Ka-500, 8-cylinder water-cooled diesel
Power – 735 kW (1000 h.p.)
Operational range – 400 km
Maximum speed – 67 km/h