Greater Poland Armoured Vehicles Centre [ANALYSIS]

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Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne S.A. is the leader of the Greater Poland Armoured Vehicles Centre (Pol. Wielkopolskie Centrum Pancerne), which also includes the companies H. CEGIELSKI–POZNAŃ S.A., STOMIL – POZNAŃ S.A., and WSK „PZL–Kalisz” S.A.

Building the capacity

Thanks to cooperation between the aforementioned companies, the Greater Poland Armoured Vehicles Centre can leverage the synergy of potential, competencies, experience, as well as production and overhaul capabilities to keep the armoured equipment in the inventory of the Polish Armed Forces at the highest state of readiness.

Moreover, the potential of the Greater Poland Armoured Vehicles Centre makes it possible that, if required, the plants that are part of it could provide necessary repairs and maintenance services also for military equipment of allied armies stationed in Poland.

Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne S.A. is a facility that remains able to meet the Polish Armed Forces« needs across the whole product life cycle thanks to the creation of competency centres:

• Military Vehicles Centre,
• Powerpacks Centre,
• Training Centre.

Within the Military Vehicles Centre, Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne has established:

• Leopard 2 Service and Logistics Centre,
• Regional Competence Centre for M1 Abrams tanks
• Leopard 2 Service and Logistics Centre

The Service and Logistics Centre for Leopard 2A5 tanks was built as part of the company’s own investment and was officially opened in April 2019. It has modern infrastructure and the capability to restore these tanks to full operational condition. Repairs, inspections and overhauls of Leopard 2A5 tanks have been successfully carried out in Poznań since 2016, and the work performed is highly rated by the Polish Armed Forces. 

The Poznań centre can also conduct training for military unit personnel, which further strengthens Leopard maintenance capability and increases their operational availability. A buffer warehouse and a mobile service team are also at the military’s disposal. In April 2025 Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne S.A. signed yet another contract with the 4th Regional Logistics Base, under which verifications, repairs and technical inspections of Leopard 2A5 tanks are carried out. Work is also underway to establish a European Support Vehicles Centre, in accordance with an agreement signed between Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa and Rheinmetall in October this year — to be located at WZM. The agreement concerns various types of vehicles: from technical recovery vehicles, through self-propelled bridges, to engineer tanks.    

Regional Competence Centre for M1 Abrams Tanks

In February 2024 Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne S.A. opened the Regional Competence Centre for the M1 Abrams family of tanks, and in May 2025 a framework cooperation agreement was signed between Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne S.A. and General Dynamics Land Systems, covering, among other things, the supply of spare parts, specialised tooling, the provision of training services and technical support. Deliveries of parts and specialised tooling are already underway. As Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne S.A. emphasise, cooperation with GDLS is progressing very well. 

Intensive theoretical and practical training in the operation and repair of M1 Abrams tanks is currently underway. The first stage of Level 1 training has already been completed. Levels 2 and 3 training will be conducted in 2025 and 2026. Negotiations are also ongoing between WZM S.A. and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) — i.e., producers of key subsystems — concerning the transfer of maintenance and repair technology up to and including Level 4.  

Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne S.A., together with GDLS, have already completed the deconservation (so-called „deprocessing”) of 116 M1A1FEP tanks, which have been delivered in full to the Polish Armed Forces. Deconservation of 250 M1A2SEPv3 tanks, which are being delivered to Poland gradually, is also in progress. So far, 85 tanks have been delivered from the USA. 

Thanks to these activities, by the end of 2026 WZM S.A. will reach full readiness to provide Level 3 maintenance, including elements of ML4 for M1 Abrams tanks on behalf of the Polish Armed Forces.

Abrams, and beyond

Importantly, Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne S.A. will service not only M1A1FEP and M1A2SEPv3 tanks, but also support vehicles. In April 2025 a licensing agreement was signed with BAE Systems concerning the transfer of technology enabling maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of M88A2 recovery vehicles. Work is currently underway on an MRO training programme for WZM S.A. employees. 

It should be noted that in the future WZM S.A. will most likely also service specialised vehicles based on the M1 Abrams chassis: self-propelled bridges M1110 JAB (Joint Assault Bridge) and Assault Breacher Vehicles M1150 ABV. Advanced talks are currently taking place regarding the creation of a buffer warehouse for spare parts for U.S. equipment, both for Abrams tanks and for support vehicles.

Power-packs Center

WZM S.A. is a licensed and authorised partner in Poland of Rolls-Royce Solutions GmbH and RENK AG, which already allows for overhauls or repairs of engines and transmissions for Leopard 2 tanks. In the near future, the agreement with Rolls-Royce Solutions GmbH is planned to be extended to include additional engines. In addition, a licensing agreement was signed with Allison Transmission Inc., covering maintenance, repair and overhaul of X-1100-3B transmissions for M1 Abrams family tanks and vehicles based on them, as well as 3040 MX transmissions for Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles. 

This is an important agreement within the Powerpacks Centre and the Regional Competence Centre for Abrams, and another step toward creating an Allison Transmissions Centre. The next phase will be installation of a dynamometer (test bed) based on Allison’s recommendations, including support in the dynamometer validation process and the general creation of capability. The first services are planned for 2026. 

Infrastructure

It is also worth mentioning the infrastructure available to Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne S.A. These are modern industrial facilities, being modernised and adapted to new requirements related to maintenance, repairs and overhauls of modern military equipment, including M1 Abrams tanks. One of the most recent investments is a renovated and modernised main hall with an area of 20,000 m², which was originally prepared for production of K2PL tanks and will likely be used to service M1 Abrams tanks and support vehicles.

Moreover, due to WZM S.A.’s development, there are plans to purchase additional land of approximately 100 ha near Poznań, which will allow for further investments. For 2026, work is planned to begin on deprocessing delivered M1110 JAB self-propelled bridges and negotiations with the Ministry of National Defence regarding the signing of a framework agreement for maintenance and repair of Abrams tanks are underway.

Summing up…

As we can see from the examples of activities described above, the Greater Poland Armoured Vehicles Centre is continuously expanding its potential and competencies. This creates prospects for further investments and undertaking new projects, both in cooperation with foreign partners and independently, assuming maximum use of domestic potential, particularly within Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa. On the occasion of signing the agreement regarding the European Support Vehicles Centre, it was announced that discussions are ongoing within PGZ about involving WZM in the production of support vehicles based on the Borsuk IFV chassis.  

In the future, on the basis of the capabilities being built at Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne S.A. and more broadly across the Polish industry, it will be possible to undertake not only projects related to modification or modernization of equipment already purchased for the Polish Armed Forces, but also the development of new domestic solutions in the field of armoured weaponry.

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