Borsuk

Poland's new amphibious infantry fighting vehicle — the Borsuk ("Badger") is the long-awaited replacement for the thousands of Soviet-era BMP-1s Poland inherited from the Warsaw Pact era. A modern, swimming, tracked fighting vehicle with an unmanned turret carrying a 30mm cannon and Spike anti-tank missiles, it is one of the flagships of Poland's enormous post-2022 military build-up — and, after years of development, it finally began entering Polish Army service in 2025.

Overview

The Borsuk (Polish for "badger") is an amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle developed by Huta Stalowa Wola (HSW) for the Polish Army. Its purpose is generational replacement: Poland still fielded large numbers of the obsolete Soviet BWP-1 (a Polish BMP-1), and the Borsuk is the modern, indigenous IFV meant to supersede them. It pairs a new amphibious tracked hull with the Polish ZSSW-30 remote (unmanned) turret — a 30mm Bushmaster II cannon, a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun, and a dual launcher for Spike-LR anti-tank guided missiles — giving Polish mechanized infantry a swimming, well-armed, modern fighting vehicle for the first time. With a framework order on the scale of well over a thousand vehicles, the Borsuk is a centrepiece of Poland's drive to become the most heavily-armed land force in Europe.

Development

The Borsuk was developed by HSW as Poland's "New Floating Infantry Fighting Vehicle" (NBPWP) program to replace the BWP-1, with prototypes demonstrated from around 2017 onward, per Wikipedia and Army Recognition. On 28 February 2023 Poland's Armaments Agency signed a framework agreement with HSW for delivery of the vehicle (reported at well over a thousand units, a figure consistent with Poland's massive rearmament), and the first vehicles were handed over in December 2025, marking the type's entry into service. The Borsuk's ZSSW-30 unmanned turret is a separate but linked Polish development (also fitted to the wheeled Rosomak), giving Poland a common modern turret across tracked and wheeled fleets. The program is one of several big Polish land procurements (alongside Korean K2 tanks and K9 howitzers, the Krab, and US Abrams and HIMARS) that have reshaped the Polish Army since 2022.

Design & capabilities

The Borsuk is a tracked, amphibious IFV — able to swim across water obstacles, a capability Poland prioritized for its river-laced terrain and which many heavier Western IFVs lack. It is powered by a roughly 720 hp engine and carries a crew plus a section of dismounts. Its firepower is the ZSSW-30 remote turret: a 30mm Mk44S Bushmaster II dual-feed autocannon (firing armour-piercing and airburst ammunition), a 7.62mm UKM-2000C coaxial machine gun, eight smoke-grenade launchers, and a twin Spike-LR anti-tank missile launcher giving it the ability to kill main battle tanks at range, all controlled by a gunner inside the hull with a modern fire-control system including a "hunter-killer" capability (commander and gunner can search and engage independently). Because the turret is unmanned, the crew is better protected within the hull. The trade-off of amphibious capability is weight and armour limits — a swimming vehicle cannot be as heavily protected as a non-amphibious one — so the Borsuk balances protection against the requirement to cross water and the lessons of a battlefield where even heavy IFVs are vulnerable to drones, mines and top-attack munitions.

Variants

• Borsuk (NBPWP): the baseline amphibious IFV with the ZSSW-30 turret.
• The hull is planned as the base for a family of specialized variants (command, recovery, engineer, etc.).
• A heavier, non-amphibious development (sometimes referred to in the "Borsuk" family discussions) has been considered for roles needing more protection.
• The ZSSW-30 turret is shared with the wheeled KTO Rosomak.

Combat record / operational use

The Borsuk has no combat record — it is only now entering Polish Army service from late 2025, replacing the Soviet-era BWP-1 in mechanized units. Its intended role is standard infantry-fighting-vehicle work: carrying and supporting infantry, killing light armour and infantry with its cannon, and destroying tanks with Spike missiles, while swimming across the water obstacles common in the Polish theatre. Its significance so far is programmatic and strategic: it is a key piece of Poland's transformation into Europe's largest and best-equipped land army, finally giving Polish infantry a modern indigenous IFV. As with any newly-fielded vehicle, its performance against a peer enemy and the drone-and-mine threat is to be proven, but its design clearly reflects current lessons (unmanned turret, Spike missiles, modern fire control).

Advantages

• Amphibious — swims across water obstacles, valuable in Poland's river-heavy terrain.
• Modern firepower — ZSSW-30 turret with 30mm cannon and Spike-LR anti-tank missiles.
• Unmanned turret — keeps the crew protected within the hull; hunter-killer fire control.
• Generational upgrade — replaces obsolete Soviet BWP-1s with an indigenous modern IFV.
• Family potential — the hull is a base for specialized variants; common turret with Rosomak.

Drawbacks / limitations

• Amphibious protection trade — swimming capability caps weight and armour versus non-amphibious IFVs.
• No combat record — new vehicle; performance against a peer enemy unproven.
• Long development — years from prototype to service, typical of a clean-sheet IFV.
• Drone/mine exposure — like all IFVs, vulnerable to top-attack munitions and FPV drones once located.
• Production ramp — fielding a four-figure fleet will take years.

Counterparts

The Borsuk competes in the modern tracked-IFV class with the Swedish CV90, Germany's Puma, Rheinmetall's Lynx (which Ukraine chose), and the US M2 Bradley — distinguished from most by its amphibious capability, which the heavier Western IFVs generally lack. It replaces the Soviet BWP-1 (BMP-1 family), a generational leap in firepower, protection and electronics. Its ZSSW-30 turret aligns it with Poland's wheeled Rosomak. The Borsuk's distinction is being Poland's own modern, swimming IFV at the heart of a vast rearmament — a national flagship rather than an export design, though Poland's growing industry may seek export customers in time.

Outlook

The Borsuk is a centrepiece of Poland's historic military expansion — the indigenous IFV that finally replaces the Cold War BMP-1 and equips a rapidly growing, heavily-armed Polish Army. Its trajectory is the multi-year production and fielding of a large fleet, the development of specialized variants on the hull, and the maturation of the ZSSW-30 turret across Polish forces. The variables to watch are how the amphibious-protection balance holds up against the modern drone-and-mine threat, the production pace against Poland's ambitious numbers, and whether the design attracts exports as Poland's industry grows. For Poland, the Borsuk is both a capability and a statement: a home-built modern fighting vehicle for a country determined to field Europe's strongest land force — entering service into a battlefield that will test every assumption about how IFVs survive.

Key specifications

Sources

1. Borsuk (infantry fighting vehicle) — Wikipedia
2. MSPO 2024: Borsuk amphibious IFV to transform Poland's Armed Forces — Army Recognition
3. Poland Receives First Batch of Borsuk Combat Vehicles — The Defense Post
4. Polish Borsuk Amphibious IFV — Joint Forces News
5. Latest-Generation Borsuk IFV Enters Service with the Polish Army — Army Recognition
6. Poland Receives its first Domestic Borsuk IFVs — Overt Defense

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