Day 2 of MSPO 2020, the annual Polish defence expo, was a little less hectic than Day 1 and I had more time to seek out interesting new kit, reports Bob Morrison.
~
Yesterday I briefly mentioned the new giant which appeared at the expo, the modernised Leopard 2PL, and as I am am no expert on the German main battle tank family I plan to ask Carl to bring you an update in due course using some of my snaps from the Kielce show. Combat boots, light 4×4 vehicles and ration packs, on the other hand, are right up my street and today I homed in on, among other subjects:-
- Six models of HAIX combat boot; two of which are brand new; two of which have quite recently been issued to troops of a NATO nation; one of which has been developed specifically for the requirements of another NATO nation; and a sixth which is of an unusual design.
- Two new off-road vehicles: the recently accepted Ford Ranger XLT replacement for the Tarpan Honker; and the PDR Żmija (Viper) Long Range Recce Vehicle.
- The current (i.e. 2019 production batch) Polish 24-hour Individual Food Ration, an example of which the Deputy Commandant of the Polish Military R&D Centre for Food Services gave me for our Rations section.
So far I have collected a fair bit of research material and images for a series of features for when the days drawn shorter, and hopefully I will garner some more tomorrow before heading home. It has been an interesting trip so far and I am glad that Poland took the bull by the horns and kick-started the military expo scene in the NATO countries. Hopefully Kielce will be the first of many and will prove that business can still carry on in these uncertain times – so long as sensible precautions are taken by all.
