Additional armament comprises the 7.62 mm PKT coaxial general-purpose machine gun and 12.7 mm NSVT anti-aircraft heavy machine gun. The Twardy is armed with the same 2A46 125 mm smoothbore gun used in the T-72, fitted with an automatic reloading mechanism which reduces the tank crew by one, as it replaces the gun loader, and gives a rate of fire of 8 to 10 rounds per minute. Furthermore, ERAWA's explosive containers do not detonate when hit by a shot of up to 30 mm calibre or by shell or mine fragments, or when covered in burning napalm or petrol. Experiments showed that the ERAWA dynamic defense decreases the high-explosive jet impact depth by 50–70% and that of penetrator (APFSDS) projectiles by 30–40%. There are two ERAWA modifications: ERAWA-1 and -2, differing in weight of the explosives. The ERAWA tiles fit together almost without gaps, unlike the gaps on the modernized Soviet T-72 which measure up to 15 mm, noticeably decreasing their defensive effectiveness. The Twardy uses steel anti-HEAT screens instead of the rubber one used on the T-72. The tiles cover 9 m 2 of the tank: 108 are placed on the turret, 118 on the hull and 84 on each side's anti-HEAT screens. The protection consisted of 394 tiles with explosives, which would detonate in case of a direct hit. The new ERAWA dynamic armour, developed by the Poland Military-Technical Institute, increased the main battle tank's protection from high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) projectiles and missiles. In 1993, the Polish Defense Ministry ordered 20 PT-91 tanks, to be used for field trials and armed forces tests. Bumar-Labedy enhanced the tank's armour protection, fire control system and the engine. The modernized main battle tank was designated the PT-91 Twardy. Starting in July 1991, T-72 modernization programs were implemented by the Bumar-Labedy factory, which had been producing T-72s under Soviet license. An additional problem was the lack of passive night vision aiming systems. Among those were low mobility, insufficient armour, lack of a fire control system and poor stabilisation of the main gun, which resulted in poor firing accuracy. The basic aim of the T-72 conversion was to adapt it to the reality of modern warfare and fix its most visible deficiencies. Instead, priority was shifted to a different project named Twardy. The first design proposed by the bureau was code-named Wilk (Polish for wolf), but the project was cancelled. However, initially, the work progressed at a very slow pace, mainly because the Polish General Staff was also considering the purchase of a newer version of the T-72 ( T-72S) or the modern T-80.Īfter the political upheaval of 1989 and dissolution of the Soviet bloc, Polish-Soviet talks on purchase of modern tanks came to a halt and support for designing a new Polish tank gained momentum. The Gliwice-based OBRUM was chosen as the main design bureau. In late 1988, the decision was made to prepare the modernization of the T-72M1, using experience gained from the production of licensed T-72M (obiekt 172M-E3 – Polish army designation T-72), T-72M1 (obiekt 172M-E5) and T-72M1K (Polish army designation T-72M1D). The successful conversion convinced the General Staff that similar modernization programs could be applied to other Soviet-designed tanks made in Poland and used by the Polish Armed Forces. In the late 1980s, the Polish Army modernized all of its obsolete T-55 tanks to the T-55AM Mérida standard. A total of 232 PT-91 tanks were delivered to the Polish Land Forces: 92 newly built vehicles and 140 from refurbished T-72A and T-72M1 tanks, designated PT-91M1 and PT-91MA1, respectively. Many of the elements were used to upgrade existing fleets of T-72 tanks in countries including the Czech Republic ( T-72M4 CZ), Georgia (T-72SIM-1), and India (T-72 Ajeya Mk. Unlike many other T-72 upgrades, Polish Army PT-91s feature elements created almost exclusively by domestic companies, including the new engine, fire control system, and all communication system elements. Changes from the T-72M include a new dual-axis stabilized fire-control system, reactive armour, a more powerful engine, transmission and new automatic loader. The PT-91 was designed at the OBRUM ( Ośrodek Badawczo-Rozwojowy Urządzeń Mechanicznych, or Research and Development Centre for Mechanical Appliances) and is produced by the Bumar Łabędy company, part of the Bumar Group, a Polish technical military consortium. A development of the T-72M1, it entered service in 1995. The PT-91 Twardy ( Polish pronunciation:, English: Hard) is a Polish main battle tank.
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