The Polish Army is to replace its outdated all-terrain vehicles with 485 Nissan Navara pickup trucks, Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak has announced.
Poland's Inspectorate for Armed Forces Support has selected the Nisan Navara pickup to replace the outdated domestically produced Honker all-terrain tactical vehicle developed in the 1980s to replace the Soviet-built UAZ-469 in the Polish Armed Forces, Błaszczak tweeted on 13 March.
Under the PLN98.6 million (USD24.8 million) contract, 485 Nissan Navara pickup trucks will be delivered starting in 2020. There is an option for an additional 150 vehicles. The vehicles will be delivered by Glomex MS Poland (leader), teamed with Glomex MS Czechia. They will be fitted with a hard-top body, 140 kW diesel engine, and run flat tyres.
Polish Army 4x4 Vehicle Procurement: Ford Vehicles replace Nissans
As mentioned by Mariusz Błaszczak via his twitter account, and then by the Polish Ministry of Defence in its press release, Ford Ranger trucks are bound to replace the Polish military’s Honker vehicles. This changes the original decision that had been made before, within the Mustang acquisition, aimed at the acquisition of Nissan Navara pick-up trucks.
The main reason as to why the change has been made stems from the fact that the manufacturer, the Japanese Nissan company, has been facing trouble. For the first time since 11 years, Nissan is suffering from losses. Back in April 2020, the manufacturing of Nissan vehicles has gone down 62% (to 150 thousand examples), while the sales income is 42% lower. Even though the issues have been caused by the COVID-19 pandemic primarily, it needs to be said that Nissan has been struggling earlier on, especially due to the scandal involving its ex-CEO, Carlos Ghosn.
Let us recall: the agreement signed on 31st March 2020 by and between the 2nd Regional Logistics Base and a consortium formed by Glomex MS Polska Sp. z o. o. (leader) and Glomex MS s.r.o. concerning delivery of general purpose passenger/cargo vehicles between 2020 and 2022, in a quantity of 435 examples (guaranteed), with extension option concerning another 150 vehicles. The agreement had a value of PLN 121 million.
According to the agreement annex, signed on July 1st this year, the contractor shall deliver Ford Ranger XTL cars, replacing the Navaras. The delivery is to proceed in line with the previously adopted schedule - this has been one of the priorities adopted by the MoD. Through the negotiation, the Parties have managed to diminish the agreement value by more than PLN 2.5 million. This allows the MoD to procure 13 vehicles more, through the right of an option (163, instead of 150 examples).
According to the MoD, the specification of the procured Ranger XLT trucks would be almost identical to that of the Nissan Navara. The Ford Ranger is a bit longer, with its trunk (probably the cargo space is referred to here) being much more spacious.
Among our recent projects, we can find a significant supply (648 pcs) of Ford Ranger cars for the Polish Armed Forces as part of the "Mustang" program as well as the design, manufacture and supply of an aircraft training simulator for the Border Guard Specialist Training Center.
