In the period between the two world wars, Poland created its own tank building industry. State factories supplied the army with armored vehicles, tankettes and light tanks. However, after the Second World War, being part of the Warsaw Pact, the Polish military industry was obliged to produce only tanks developed and adopted by the USSR. Their main manufacturer was the machine-building plant Bumar Labandy, and the last Soviet tanks, produced before 1993, were T-72s, of which the Poles produced 1,610 units. However, one should not assume that the Poles simply replicated the Soviet design and nothing more. There are two fairly strong research organizations in Poland - the Military Institute of Armament and Technology and the Center for Research and Design of Mechanisms. They not only created their own, different from the Soviet, designs of the VZT-3 tank tractor, a training tank and a T-72M1K control tank, but also undertook a deep modernization of the T-72, as a result of which a model of a new main battle tank, called the RT, appeared. -91 "Twards". In 1992, a pilot batch of these machines was built for comprehensive testing. The Twardy tank differs from its prototype primarily in the new SKO-1M Drava fire control system developed and manufactured in Poland.
Another new element is the Erava-1 (single-layer) and Erava-2 (double-layer) active armor. Similar protection against HEAT shells for the T-72 was also developed by Soviet designers, but Erava is located differently and protects a large surface. In addition, the Tvards are equipped with a coating that absorbs radiation, the Obra-4 system, which warns of laser irradiation of the tank, a 12-barrel 81-mm Tucha smoke grenade launch system and a single-barreled 80-mm Tellur anti-laser grenade launch system. ". The turret is equipped with anti-aircraft armament of the ZU-72 model. The driver has a passive night vision device "Radomka". The bottom under the driver's seat is reinforced with additional armor. At the end of 1994, with the start of serial production, the French Savan-15T fire control system began to be installed on the RT-91. The main armament, transmission and chassis are retained from the T-72, however, a new Polish 12-cylinder S12U turbodiesel with a capacity of 625 kW (2300 rpm) was installed, with which the tank develops a speed of up to 70 km / h, and in the future it is planned to use a more powerful, 735-kilowatt (i.e. 1000-horsepower) unit. The mileage of the tank with one refueling reaches 650 km. RT-91 is intended primarily for the Polish army; however, if willing, they can buy this tank for about $ 2 million. The Poles are aware that Twards is the last opportunity to at least to some extent adapt to today's requirements a design that was put into service back in 1972. But Poland needs a new generation tank, and work on it was started in 1995 in the hope of mid-1998 to carry out sea trials of the prototype, conventionally named "Gorilla".
Unlike the RT-91, the Gorilla will have a western-type turret with almost vertical walls, the main armor on top should be covered with ceramic armor plates and active armor that protect against sub-caliber and cumulative projectiles, as well as a special layer for absorbing electromagnetic radiation. The engine is a diesel with a capacity of about 1000 kW. The main armament is Russian: two machine guns, a 125-mm smooth-bore gun with automatic loading (also capable of launching the 9M 119 Svir ATGM), striking targets at a distance of up to 5000 m and penetrating armor up to 700 mm. The fire control systems and the power unit, coupled with the transmission, developed specifically for the Gorilla, must be computerized. The Poles are looking for the possibility of cooperation in the creation of this 55-ton tank with the military industries of France, Israel and South Africa. It is still difficult to say whether the replacement of the outdated RT-91 with Gorillas will begin in the future - after all, the cost of developing a new vehicle is commensurate with the costs of creating the best Western European tank, the Leopard. But buying a lot of modern tanks - even in the West, even in the East - is not at all cheaper, and in the latter case, its own industry suffers.
