Seen here is the Polish Land Forces AHS Krab, it is a 155 mm NATO compatible self-propelled
tracked gun-howitzer, designed in Poland by Huta Stalowa Wola, a major producer of military
equipment.
The design of the AHS Krab is unique, bringing together a number of proven key elements found
on other self propelled howitzers from around the world.
After several years of building various prototypes and bringing together a number of international
manufacturers, the final production version is now arming the Polish Land Forces with
a Howitzer that is built in Poland under a number of license agreements.
The Krab is set to begin replacing the ageing, early 1970's designed, soviet era 2 S1 Gvozdika
self-propelled 122 mm howitzer,seen here, it is a none standard NATO Shell firing system,
the Polish military have decided its out of date for its military needs, even lthough
some polish modernisation has taken place such as the fitting of WB Electronics “Topaz”
artillery fire control systems, which are fitted as standard across the range of Polands
shell firing artillery.
Its actual date for full retirement is now unclear, Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine
has caused many nations across Europe to rethink there future military needs and to increase
budgets for military Defence spending.
The Krab as of yet remains unproven in battle, which cannot be said of Polands WZ.77 Dana
howitzers, these Czech manufactured howitzers, seen here firing with an American Palladin,
have seen successful action with Polish troops in Afghanistan.
The Dana howitzer design is now reaching 40 years of age, and although it fires a none
standard NATO shell, it will continue to operate with Polish Land forces following modification
plans which will keep it in service for at least another 25 years, interestingly the
barrel caliber will remain unchanged, meaning it will continue to fire a none NATO standard
shell.
As well as the relatively recent introduction of the KRAB howitzer, the Polish Land Forces
have also received the first deliveries in 2017 of M120 Rak, a self-propelled gun equipped
with an automatically loaded 120 mm mortar, the vehicles shown here are the SMK 120 Rak
variant, with the mortar mounted on a wheeled chasis, a tracked variant is also planned.
Getting back to the AHS Krab, it is built around a Hanwha Defense K9 Thunder Chasis
with a version of a AS-90M Braveheart turret a Rheinmetall 155 mm barrel manufactured under
license in Poland and Polish WB Electronics “Topaz” artillery fire control system.
The Krab is powered by a Rolls-Royce MTU MT 881 Ka 500 Engine, supplied from Germany.
The main gun can fire 155mm Nato projectiles for a maximum range of 40km.
Forty rounds of ammunition are stowed inside the turret and chassis.
The turret is mounted with a 12.7mm machine gun serving as a secondary armament for the
vehicle.
KRAB is also armed with a bank of four 81mm smoke grenades on either side of the turret.
The Krab is more effective firing as part of a battery with between 8 & 12 operating
together, and supported by command vehicles, ammunition carriers, recovery, recon and workshop
support vehicles
Battery crews are likely to pratice shoot and scoot tactics, with the Krab Howitzer
crews firing several rounds at the target and then moving away promptly, to avoid potential
incoming counter fire.
The Krab can reach 60km/h on hard surfaces
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