Two battalions from two mechanized brigades of Polish Army — 12th (12 Brygada Zmechanizowana) and 17th (17 Wielkopolska Brygada Zmechanizowana) — have for over two years been participating in interesting pilot tests under Model 44 program, created both based on analyses and modeling conducted by Polish armed forces general staff and on Ukraine war experience, and aims to adapt existing Polish army units in accordance with modern battlefield needs.
Pilot project will continue through this autumn, and in November battalions of two above-mentioned brigades will undergo certification within verification of new structure's practical effectiveness, as Polska Zbrojna publication reports.
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Moreover, preliminary test results are assessed very positively and Model 44 program already entered country's armed forces development program for 2025-2039.
What is essence of this project? Poles saw that with existing structure their battalions (of armored, mechanized or motorized brigades) will have limited capabilities in modern war. As result, of four companies in battalion, usually armed with 14 armored vehicle units each (tanks, IFVs or APCs), one was replaced with so-called unmanned weapons company.
Thus, armored vehicle quantity in battalion decreased from 58 to 44 vehicles (by 14 vehicles, in this specific case involving Rosomak APCs), but instead military received more modern weapons in service like loitering munitions, FPV drones, reconnaissance systems and counter-UAV assets.
Polish general staff positively assessed such decision, emphasizing battalion now received capability to identify and engage targets at ranges up to 30 km — two and a half times more than before. This figure may raise questions, as 30 km is by no means limit for modern drones, and modern battlefield requires significantly greater drone operating range.
But here this rather involves illustrative indicator — how seriously battalion capabilities expand specifically with unmanned company. Since same Warmate in new modifications have range much greater than 30 km.
As publication separately emphasizes — project goal is not to replace armored vehicles with drones, but to maximally effectively combine within one battalion traditional and drone units so they have capability to detect and destroy targets faster than enemy.
Important is fact that in Poland they do not just mindlessly create unmanned units in military, but integrate them by changing battalion integration structure. Moreover, this involves full units having in service reconnaissance and strike drones of various types, as well as counter-UAV assets including electronic warfare systems.
Judging by Polish specialized media materials, such unmanned units use among everything Ukraine-proven Polish weapons — these are FlyEye reconnaissance drones, used in Armed Forces since 2015 and since then received range of improvements. As well as Warmate strike drones, most modern version of which is also already used by Ukrainian military.
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