The decision to provide Polish troops in Afghanistan with armoured vehicles was made by the Polish Defence Ministry in late August, following the death of three soldiers whose Humvee patrol vehicle had hit a road mine planted by the Taliban. The construction of the Humvee offers virtually no protection against mines. The MOD decided that the soldiers needed something more robust. Mine-proof armoured vehicles have, for instance, a specially designed floor whose shape disperses the impact of the explosion. As recently as in early September Defence Minister
Bogdan Klich said the government was considering RG-31, a vehicle manufactured in RPA, a country with a long tradition of making such vehicles. Yet the Ministry eventually chose the Cougars, which are to be leased from US Army.
The Cougar and the RG-31 offer the same level of protection against mines - 14 kg of TNT under any wheel, or 7 kg anywhere under the vehicle. Yet the Americans themselves prefer to use the RG-31 in Afghanistan.
Geoff Morrell, spokesman for the US Department of Defence said so back in July: 'The US commander in Afghanistan wants the RG-31, because it's better adapted to the country's unpaved roads and hilly terrain'.
During the same time, Gen Michael Brogan of the Marine Corps, responsible for the implementation of the armoured vehicle programme, explained, 'The RG-31 is morel lightweight. It has a narrower turning circle. That's why our commanders in Afghanistan want it'.
Polish military experts also express doubts about the Cougar's battlefield worthiness.
'The Cougar is very similar to the Rosomak armoured vehicle, which is in use in Afghanistan. The Cougar will be okay for protecting convoys on the main road, but it'll prove less useful in tougher terrain, on patrol and recon missions', says Grzegorz Hołdanowicz, expert at the Raport monthly.
The Cougar can prove troublesome for one more reason. To transport it to Afghanistan by air, you need the C-17 large transport aircraft, which only the Americans have. The RG-31 fits into the much smaller C-130 Hercules, which the Polish army is to start using in early November. This means that when it comes to transporting the Cougars by air, Poland will be forced to ask the Americans for help.
'The Cougars will be delivered by US Army to a location of our choice', says Robert Rochowicz, spokesman for the Ministry of Defence.
The first thirty are to be delivered as early as this month.
'It's very probable that the deal is a veiled promotion of the US defence industry, that the US State Department had decided that it'd be better to give the Poles a US product instead of a foreign-made one. Besides, if the US commanders have to give something away, it's obvious they'll leave the better thing for their own soldiers', says a Polish officer.
So why has the MOD chosen the Cougar? Mr Rochowicz explains, 'We've asked manufacturers of armoured vehicles, including the RG-31, about the possibility of a purchase for urgent operational needs. Talks were held. They've now been suspended however, and will be restarted a year from now, when the Cougar lease period expires. The Americans are leasing us what they themselves use in Afghanistan. They don't operate the RG-31 there now'.
But Mr Hołdanowicz says that the Cougar doesn't achieve the Defence Ministry's original purpose, which was to replace the poorly armoured Humvees: 'I think it have been better if we had taken the RG-31. But it didn't work. They're giving us the Cougars. A couple of months from now it may turn out we need something smaller after all'.
Translated by Marcin Wawrzyńczak
