Polish MND postpones Rosomak Battle Management System programme

The Polish Ministry of National Defence (MND) is essentially postponing its Rosomak Battle Management System (BMS) programme, defence sources associated with the effort have told Jane’s .

The Rosomak BMS programme, sources said, will be reverted to a research and development (R&D) effort after it was concluded by the MND’s Armament Inspectorate that the current offering did not meet expectations.

According to the sources, one of the MND’s concerns related to encryption levels of the BMS solution. Neither the MND nor Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) was available to comment on the current state of the programme.

A contract was expected to be signed in January 2019 to equip an initial tranche of 14 Rosomak 8x8 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) with the BMS capability following nearly two years of negotiations between the MND’s Armament Inspectorate and Polish state-run company PGZ, which acted as systems integrator in the programme.

The MND had been seeking to upgrade more than 300 Rosomak APCs with the BMS solution pending a successful certification by the Polish Land Forces.

PGZ displays a mock-up of the Rosomak BMS at MSPO in Kielce, Poland, on 5 September 2018. (Andrew White)

Primary objectives stipulated in the Rosomak BMS requirement had called for a “modern, mobile, and efficient” information and communication technology infrastructure over internet protocol at the tactical level. This required the BMS to provide blue and red force tracking, terrain analysis, dissemination of orders, and vehicle status updates across a common operating picture.