The Anders tank is the most sophisticated and demanding option of the modular platform (UMTP), filled with a great number of own-developed innovative solutions, developed in a very short time and with involvement of pretty low expenditures, really advanced for the time of its birth. According to the project assumption, the universal platform should serve as a basic structure for a dozen of applications, including Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICV) in both lightweight and heavyweight options, mobile command centres, engineering vehicles, technical support vehicles, ammunition supply vehicles or even paramedic evacuation vehicles and medical ambulances. The entire size of the project, starting from the conceptual design phase up to construction of prototypes, is a solely Polish program that is comparable only to the American efforts within the project of Future Combat Systems and is an effective marriage of worldwide technologies and Polish technical concepts. The demonstrating unit for the technology was constructed in the extremely short time of only 24 months as a result of the development project with the number O R00 003005 and entitled ‘Lightweight tank on the basis of a multi-task combat platform’. The project was sponsored from the means of the Ministry of Science and High Education and implemented by the consortium of scientific units and industrial companies, represented by the consortium leader, OBRUM Centre and its partners, i.e. Military University of Technology (WAT) and Rosomak SA (former WZM S.A.) in Siemianowice Śląskie.
The Anders tank is a product that was designed with consideration of the fact that the nature of contemporary battlefields is continuously changing and combat operation involve many types of troops on land and in air with broad fluctuations of mission intensities whilst support and powerful firing means must be provided to fighting troops under various field conditions, i.e. in mountains, deserts, jungles or urbanized area. On the other hand, fighting soldiers must be safeguarded not only by means of sturdy armours, but also protected against electronic means, thermal factor or enemy missiles. The modern undercarriage platform ANDERS is an universal tracked hull with high strategic and tactic mobility, excellent immunity to enemy shells and antitank mines combined with high power of own weapons. The design is easily upgradeable and offers development opportunities during its entire lifetime. The undercarriage is designed as a basic chassis for a broad series of mobile armoured vehicles. The innovative merits of the project can be justified by numerous original and innovative technical solutions, including:
• designing of the engine compartment in the front section of the vehicle enables easy configuration of the design with possible selection between a tank, a mobile command center, an ICV, a technical support vehicle or a paramedic evacuation vehicle and provides additional protection in case of a hit by a High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) shell,
• reduction of the ready-for-combat vehicle weight to about 30 ÷ 33 tons enables transportation of vehicles in bays of cargo aircrafts and crossing bridges of medium load capacity, whereas the reduction of a passive armour is compensated by implementation of active systems for the vehicle protection and defence,
• application of an unmanned turret with a gun of a high firepower enables improved protection of the tank crew with simultaneous lowering of the vehicle silhouette, where reflections of electromagnetic radiations by the tank hull is reduced for a broad spectrum of wavelengths.
• electronic systems of the vehicle are based on centralized networks to facilitate commanding of the vehicle and exchange of information within the system of combat control and with continuous monitoring of logistic parameters,
• embedded electronic systems enable better protection and shielding of the vehicle,
• hydromechanical driving system, incorporated into the vehicle and designed to transfer torque from the vehicle engine to driving pulleys, enables excellent motion characteristics of the vehicle and its manoeuvrability,
• possible application of a hybrid engine in future shall enable silent marches down the distances of about 20 km,
• conventional crawling tracks can be substituted in future with rubber ones.
Technical performance of solutions applied to the Anders tank was verified with positive results of adaptation works intended for installation of turret systems with a gun of 120 mm calibre (a lightweight tank), a gun of 105 mm calibre from a Belgium company CMI (a fire support vehicle), HITFIST 30P and OWS turrets (infantry combat vehicle) as well as passing results of field tests and weapon firing tests of the Anders platform with a turret furnished with a 120 mm calibre gun and an gun autoloader designed for NATO standardized shells and placed in the back of the turret.
Various applications of the product were successfully presented upon occasions of numerous fairs and international exhibitions, for instance:
• infantry combat vehicle with a manned turret HITFIST 30 – International Defence Industry Exhibition, 2010,
• infantry combat vehicle with a unmanned turret OWS – International Defence Industry Exhibition, 2011,
• fire support vehicle with a turret from a Belgium company CMI and the gun of 105 mm calibre ‑ EUROSATORY, Paris, 2012.
Advantages of the ANDERS design:
• general-purpose load-bearing hull with the possibility to install various modules of superstructures,
• capacity of integration with various turret systems (manned and unmanned, with guns of various calibres – 30 mm, 105 mm or 120 mm),
• high degree of ballistic immunity up to 5+ (according to STANAG 4569)
• supplementary composite armour with a system for quick installation,
• reduced hazard of detection by radars owing to application of a painting system with an absorber of microwave radiation,
• reduced thermal signature of exhaust gases owing to mixing them with air from the cooling system,
• modern design of side shields to reduce thermal signature originated from the crawling system,
• advanced and modernized systems for protection against weapons of mass destruction,
• multihead warning system to alert the vehicle crew about laser irradiation,
• three-man crew with the possibility to carry 4 to 8 infantrymen on board,
• shock absorbers with elastomeric bumpers, an own design of OBRUM,
• air conditioning and a diesel generator for operation in case of a so called silent mission,
• powerful on-board electric networks ~120 kW of electric power makes it possible to use the hull for installation of system with high demand for electric power, e.g. WB PZA LOARA, radar systems, non-lethal weapon,
• turret driving system engineered on the base of an own design of OBRUM,
• modern solutions for telecom and IT systems, based on data transmission networks, enable central management of equipment in battlefields,
• separate electric motors for fans and special technology of fan engineering,
• optical targeting systems with transmission of images from the gunner viewfinder with horizontal and vertical stabilization of images,
• CCTV systems for observation of the area behind the vehicle back,
• night-vision PNK-72B device for the driver,
• weight and overall dimension enable transportation of the vehicle on railway platforms or by cargo aircrafts.
