Information is circulating in the government circles that a middle battalion group will finally be created. Before the April elections, something like that was far from likely. The German Boxer eight-wheelers, considered the pinnacle of military technology, will now supposedly be replaced by the more than 20-year-old Polish KTO Rosomak vehicles. “Recent statements of the Prime Minister, Dr Robert Golob, indicate that the Government of the Republic of Slovenia is planning to make the purchase of KTO Rosomak vehicles instead of the Boxer eight-wheel armoured vehicles. Such a decision would be bad and even damaging, as it would provide far less protection for Slovenian soldiers, and we would also be purchasing vehicles we already know are obsolete. The key question that this decision raises is who will take responsibility for the much worse security of Slovenian soldiers. The decision also means that the envisaged timetable for the modernisation of the Slovenian Armed Forces has been pushed back again into the uncertain future. In the light of the changed security circumstances, this is a very risky and unwise decision,” former Minister of Defence Matej Tonin wrote in his response to the government’s intention.
Any comparison between the Boxer and the KTO Rosmak vehicles is impossible because these are two different generations of vehicles. The Rosomak is a vehicle from the previous generation and therefore obsolete in many respects. It was produced in Poland, and therefore, the vehicle is only in service in Poland and the United Arab Emirates, MP Matej Tonin added.
While German Boxers are the best the market has to offer at the moment, the Polish eight-wheelers are much older. They have been built by a Polish state-owned company under licence from Finland’s Patria for the last 20 years and are consequently much cheaper. The Slovenian Press Agency reports that the Rosomak (which translates to Wolverine) is about half the price and can be delivered quickly.
The exact price is not yet known, unlike the amount that would be charged for the German Boxers. Namely, 45 of these armoured vehicles would cost us 343,43 million euros.
“The KTO Rosomak vehicle does not meet the minimum military protection requirements of STANAG 4569. If the new government wishes to introduce KTO Rosomak vehicles, then it should order the Slovenian Armed Forces to prepare a new tactical study with a clear direction to reduce the level of protection required for crew and soldiers. This would be a very irresponsible decision to the detriment of the safety of the soldiers and would also require clear accountability. The production of such a tactical study would also mean that the military profession is subject to political pressure, which is contrary to the public assurance given by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia that it will respect the decisions of the profession,” Tonin said.
The KTO Rosomak vehicle, like the Stryker, reached its peak in the last decade, but today the technology and trends in armoured vehicles have advanced significantly. The protection of soldiers in the KTO Rosomak is poor compared to the armour trends of the new vehicles. For these reasons, the Rosomak is cheaper than the Boxer, but by no means in the long term. The protection of soldiers in the KTO Rosomak is a vehicle that the Slovenian Armed Forces will have to replace in the medium term, as it will not meet the needs of modern warfare. The trends are moving towards increased protection up to STANAG level 5-6, and towards the 40 mm cannon, and the KTO Rosomak is not able to meet any of these standards. The decision for the KTO Rosomak is, therefore, a decision for an inferior and outdated vehicle with an insufficient level of security for Slovenian soldiers, which will also have to be replaced soon. The Slovenian Armed Forces must deploy state-of-the-art weapon systems if the Army wants to be fully operational in the coming decades, so buying outdated vehicles is unacceptable.
“The Boxer vehicles, compared to KTO Rosomak, are much more powerful, offer much better protection for the crew and soldiers, and above all, allow the integration of modern systems and a remotely operated battle station. In the case of Slovenia’s withdrawal from OCCAR, it is clear that the new government has decided to make an extremely unwise move that will harm the safety of our soldiers, slow down the modernisation of the Slovenian Armed Forces, and take a step back in the technological sophistication of the weapons systems that the Slovenian armed forces will use in the future,” Tonin believes.
Even after the elections, the current Minister of Defence, Marjan Šarec, spoke about trying to convince the allies that maybe we should not have a medium battalion group and should instead reorganise the Slovenian Armed Forces into a kind of territorial defence. Obviously, this was just political rhetoric, but now it will have to be justified. They are trying to do this by revising the purchase of the German Boxers, which the previous government wanted to buy under the OCCAR programme.
Andrej Žitnik
