117th Mechanized Brigade Armed with PT-91 Twardy Tanks

15 January, 2024 Tank PT-91 Twardy of the 117th Mechanized Brigade. January 2024. Ukraine.

Photo credits: 10th Army Corps The Armed Forces of Ukraine equipped the newly formed brigade with Polish PT-91 tanks in 2023. Twardy tanks were received by the 117th Mechanized Brigade, which was created only in February 2023.

Last year, the Ukrainian army seriously increased its forces to repel the Russian invasion of Ukraine. By the end of February 2023, the brigade consisted of more than 3,000 people and was armed with modern equipment and weapons. The transfer of these tanks should strengthen the armored forces of the new brigade.

Tank PT-91 Twardy of the 117th Mechanized Brigade. January 2024. Ukraine.

Photo credits: 10th Army Corps

Usually tanks P?-91 conduct combat missions on the enemy from indirect positions or mainly fire on Russian infantry. Recall that in January 2023, Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki announced plans to transfer 60 tanks to Ukraine, among them 30 PT-91 Twardy. The PT-91 main battle tank of the Polish army was made on the basis of the licensed version of the Soviet ?-72?1 MBT.

The tank is relatively new; the first prototypes were made only in 1993. The base variant was mass-produced at Bumar Labedy until 2002.

Tank PT-91 Twardy of the 117th Mechanized Brigade. January 2024. Ukraine.

Photo credits: 10th Army Corps

??-91 has modern fire control and communication systems. Tank and crew protection is further enhanced by mounted reactive armor. The fighting vehicle is equipped with a PZL-Wola S-12U diesel engine with a capacity of 850 hp of its own production.

Tank PT-91 Twardy of the 117th Mechanized Brigade.

January 2024.

Ukraine.

Photo credits: 10th Army Corps

In December, these Polish tanks were engaged in the Zaporizhzhia direction.