PWA AERO (Aeromobile Troops Vehicle AERO) – Polish

off-road vehicle An off-road vehicle (ORV), also known as an off-highway vehicle (OHV), overland vehicle or adventure vehicle, is a type of transportation specifically engineered to navigate unpaved roads and surfaces. These include trails, forest roads, and ...

designed for airborne units, adapted for parachute drop for a transport aircraft. Built on the basis of

Toyota Land Cruiser The , also sometimes spelt as LandCruiser, is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is Toyota's longest running series of models. , the sales of the Land Cruiser totalled more than 1 ...

HZJ 71,74.

Development

On December 16, 2018, the Armament Inspectorate signed a contract for the delivery of 55 PWA AERO vehicles and 105 PS AERO TR trailers, which are towed by cars. The contract includes an option for the delivery of another 25 cars and 55 trailers. The first 15 cars and the same number of trailers were handed over to the 16th Airborne Battalion from

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

in December 2019, and in November of the same year, the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

received another batch of vehicles. The vehicle is manufactured by a consortium consisting of: KAFAR Bartłomiej Sztukiert (leader), HIBNERYT, Auto Podlasie and the Auto Special company. In November 2020, the exercise of the option right was confirmed, thus the ordered number of vehicles increased to 80 and 120 trailers.

Construction

High mobility Aero 4x4 vehicles, based on the modernized chassis of the

J70

with a short wheelbase. The vehicles is 3.6 m long and weigh 1.8 t, and the permissible total weight is 3.5 t. The vehicle is powered by a KZ series diesel engine with a capacity of 4.2 l and a power of 131 HP (96 kW), working with a 5-speed manual gearbox. This provides a maximum speed of up to 100 km/h on a paved road. The load capacity is 1.2 t. The vehicle is equipped with two electric winches with a pulling capacity of 3.5 and 2 t. AERO can tow specially designed PS AERO TR trailers with two trailers or a trailer and a light artillery piece. AERO is adapted for dropping from Lockheed C-130E Hercules and CASA C-295M transport aircraft

References

{{Reflist Reconnaissance vehicles Military vehicles of Poland