A stunning presentation of a factory that modernizes Polish Army tanks

Poland is building one of the largest armored forces in Europe, equipped with several of the most modern tank models.

The exhibition of the Polish Army's military power on its Armed Forces Day
The K2 Black Panther features that the Polish Army loves: “It is an excellent tank”

However, while introducing newer versions of the American M1 Abrams and the South Korean K2 Black Panther, the Polish Army maintains several older tank models in operation, including the Soviet T-72, the PT-91 Twardy (a Polish-modernized version of the T-72), and the Leopard 2A4. Modernizations of these tanks are carried out at the Zakłady Mechaniczne "Bumar-Łabędy" S.A. (Bumar-Łabędy Mechanical Plant) in Gliwice, Upper Silesia, Poland.

This factory has over 70 years of history. Licensed tanks such as the T-34/85, T-54, T-55, and T-72 have been produced there, as well as the WZT-3 and WZT-4 recovery vehicles (based on the T-72 chassis). It also produces civilian vehicles such as crane trucks and excavators. Today, this factory is part of the Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa SA conglomerate, which brings together 50 military industry companies and is one of the largest defense-related business groups in Europe.

This week, Zakłady Mechaniczne "Bumar-Łabędy" published a stunning presentation video on its YouTube channel, to which I have been subscribed for a long time. They hadn't published anything for two years, but the wait was worth it because the video is of excellent quality. In addition to images of the factory, we see the spectacular tests of the tanks that are modernized and maintained at this Gliwice-based company:

You can see some screenshots from the video here. We start with a T-72 being lifted by a crane inside the factory. Poland has delivered hundreds of these tanks to Ukraine as military aid against the Russian invasion since 2022.

The interior of the factory. We see two rows of Leopard 2A4 chassis to the left and right.

One of the most interesting parts of the video is the one that shows us a Leopard 2PL turret test bench. This modernized version of the Leopard 2A4 has turned out particularly well.

A brutal shot from a T-72 with its 125 mm main gun. The video shows how the pressure wave lifts the ground in its path.

We end with this image of a PT-91 Twardy followed by its older brother, a T-72, on a maneuvering area.