How Poland's PL-01 Tank Concept Is Ready to Fight Russia

How Poland's PL-01 Tank Concept Is Ready to Fight Russia

The layout of the PL-01 is similar to those of modern standard main battle tanks. The driver is located at the front of the vehicle's hull, with the commander and gunner also located in the hull and the unmanned turret mounted in the rear. In addition, there is a rear compartment in the hull which can accommodate four soldiers. The vehicle chassis is based on that of the Combat Vehicle 90.

The PL-01, which was first unveiled at the International Defence Industry Exhibition back in September 2013, was developed by OBRUM with support from BAE systems and was heavily based on the Swedish CV90120-T light tank. The profile of the tank was not all that dissimilar to standard MBTs employed today such as the American M-1 Abrams or German Leopard 2.

However, it shared similarities with the Russian T-14 Armata tank including the fact that the three-man crew, which included the commander, driver and gunner, sat in the main hull, while the unmanned turret was controlled remotely. It was also similar to the Israel Merkava in that it featured a rear entry hatch – while the rear compartment in the hull could be used to transport four additional soldiers.

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