According to information published by the "KRESY" website on July 24, 2022, Krzysztof Płatek, the spokesman of the Polish Armament Agency announced during an interview that Poland sent local-made PT-91 Twardy Main Battle Tanks to Ukraine, as part of military aid following the invasion of Russian troops.
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Polish-made PT-91 Twardy MBT Main Battle Tank in a live demonstration. (Picture source Army Recognition)
On July 13, 2022, the Army Recognition editorial team reported that Poland could give to Ukraine 232 PT-91 Twardy Main Battle Tanks in exchange for American-made M1 Abrams tanks. Today, Poland has already provided Ukraine with a total of 240 tanks from its military inventory including Soviet-made T-72M1 and T-72M1R variants.
Citing the latest information published on Internet, Poland could acquire in the next few years South Korean K2 main battle tanks to replace old Soviet-made T-72 and local-made PT-91 tanks.
The PT-91 is a Main Battle Tank (MBT) also nicknamed Twardy (Hard), is a further development of the Soviet-made T-72M1, an export version of the T-72A, which has been produced under license in Poland for many years. The first prototype of the PT-91 was completed late in 1992 and underwent trials with the Polish Army. The tank is also in service with the Malaysian army.
The layout of the PT-91 is similar to the Soviet-made T-72A but with many improvements in terms of protection, mobility, and internal combat systems. The tank has a crew of three including a driver, commander, and gunner. It keeps the same armament as the Soviet-made T-72A including a 125-mm smoothbore gun 2A46 fitted with an automatic reloading mechanism that allowed for removing the gun's loader as a crew member and gave a rate of fire of 8 to 10 rounds per minute. Additional armament includes a 7.62-mm coaxial PKT and 12.7mm anti-aircraft NSVT machine guns.
The main improvements of the Polish-made PT-91 Twardy include the Installation of the Polish-developed explosive reactive armor Type ERAWA-1 and ERAWA-2 to the hull and turret, four laser warning antennas are fitted around the turret which alert the crew if it is being targeted by a laser range-finder or designator, 12 smoke-grenade dischargers are mounted on each side of the turret.
In terms of mobility, the PT-91 Twardy is motorized with a new diesel engine developing 850 hp as well as a new improved cooling system. The engine and crew compartment have been fitted with more modern fire detection and suppression system.
The PT-91 Twardy is fitted with a new computerized fire-control system installed, with the gunner's passive image intensification sight having the option of being changed for a Drawa thermal sight. A laser range-finder is fitted as standard and the 125 mm smoothbore main armament is stabilized in both elevation and traverse. The fire-control system has been developed by PCO of Poland. The commander (POD-72) and driver (PNK-72) have new passive night observation devices.
