WZT

WZT (Wóz Zabezpieczenia Technicznego – armoured recovery vehicle) was a Polish post-World War II armoured recovery vehicle series. It consists of five versions. The first two, WZT-1 and WZT-2 were built on T-55/T-55A hull, the WZT-3 was built on T-72M hull, the WZT-3M was built on PT-91 hull and the WZT-4 was built on PT-91M hull for Malaysia.

WZT-1

History

In the early 50s USSR started developing an ARV built on the hull of T-54 that was just entering production. A prototype vehicle was completed after a short while and was named BTS-1 (BTS - Bronirowannyj Tjagacz Sriednij). Production was launched and it became the basic ARV of the Soviet army. In 1955 BTS-1 was upgraded with a hoist and a small folding crane. This upgraded version was given the name BTS-2. It was built on the T-54 hull and later on the T-55 hull. In the end of the 60s Poland and Czechoslovakia bought the BTS-2. Basing on BTS-2 technical data the Zakład Produkcji Doświadczalnej Zakładów Mechanicznych "Bumar-Łabędy" (Experimental Production Institute of "Bumar-Łabędy") prepared a prototype of WZT-1 ARV. It was accepted into the Ludowe Wojsko Polskie and became its basic ARV replacing the older designs. Production started in 1970 in "Bumar-Łabędy" and continued until 1978 when it was completely replaced by WZT-2.