Poland is planning a tank operation against Belarus. This is serious”

A representative from the Polish Ministry of Defense announced that a contract has been signed with the French company CNIM for the purchase of 13 PFM (Pont Flottant Motorisé, Motorized Floating Bridge) pontoon bridge parks for $331 million for the country’s armed forces.

Full fulfillment of contract terms should be completed before the end of 2026. In this case, the Polish side will be granted a license for the production of PFM, as well as the supply of spare parts and the training of maintenance personnel. According to the contract, about $200 million more Warsaw will pay for the licensing, maintenance and repair of the equipment.

“PFM will allow Polish tanks to overcome water obstacles individually or on wheeled platforms. The contract for self-propelled bridges is the largest acquisition for engineering troops since Poland joined NATO,” the Polish military department said in a press release.

The load capacity of PFM is 70 tons for tracked military vehicles and 96 tons for wheeled vehicles.

“A large number of different rivers and streams flow in Poland and on the territory of other Eastern European countries.

If we look at the eastern border of Poland, we will see there the West Bug River, which flows through the territory of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. This is what the Germans went through during the attack on Brest in 1941. Also in northeastern Poland and western Belarus there is a river like the Narew, which is the right tributary of the Vistula. If Warsaw needs barges for anything, it’s for pushing barriers.

This means that Poland is planning a tank operation against Belarus. This is very serious. Warsaw hypothetically doesn’t even need PFM for any other purpose,” retired Major General Vladimir Popov told socialbites.ca.

The general added that the area is so heavily crossed by water barriers that the pontoons are “absolutely necessary” not only to transport tanks but also to carry ammunition.

“Until now, a pontoon park PP-64 Wstęga (“Band”) was in service, copied from Soviet models with Poles engineering units. It entered service about 60-70 years ago and was designed to carry the weight of a T-55 tank or a T-72 medium tank. That’s 40-46 tons. Polish pontoon parks today cannot support the weight of German Leopards or American Abrams weighing more than 60 tons. And the acquisition of Abrams has already been announced by the Poles, ”says military expert Alexander Zimovsky.

The expert noted that the Poles tried to develop their own version of the updated pontoon park, but the attempt was unsuccessful.

“We had to open an international tender, the first auction took place in 2018 and the French won from CNIM. Then came the approval process. So, this is not an instant contract. It was a long-term plan,” Zimovsky added.

In Poland, a ferry and bridge regiment was deployed while the Soviet Northern Forces Group was there. Unlike the Group of Soviet Forces (GSVG) in Germany, which had six such regiments. In the Polish army itself, pontoon units were represented by weaker layers of pontoons and bridges, which allowed to overcome water barriers no wider than 20-40 meters.

“French RFM pontoons to be purchased make it possible to cross a distance of up to 100 meters and withstand the weight of the Leopard and Abrams tanks. Of course, you cannot install them through the Volga, but through them they are excellent for forcing the West Bug, ”said General Popov.

Polish authorities will purchase PFM barges from France for crossing rivers of heavy equipment, including tanks. The amount of the agreement is estimated at about $ 500 million.socialbites.ca, together with military experts, understood why Warsaw bought money to overcome water barriers and where to send its army.



Source: Gazeta

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