The STAR 266 has been the primary medium-duty off-road truck of the Polish Armed Forces since the 1970s. Serial production took place at the “STAR” Truck Factory in Starachowice between 1973 and 2000, replacing the STAR 66–660 family of vehicles.
Over many years of service, it proved to be a highly successful vehicle, utilized in a wide variety of configurations: from standard cargo trucks and enclosed-body variants to specialized units—such as radio stations, mobile workshops, command-and-staff vehicles, field battery-charging stations, communications equipment shelters, radio-monitoring stations, and airport ground-support vehicles—as well as tankers, excavators, and cranes. The STAR 266 also serves as the platform for the “Hibernyt” self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery system (featuring a ZU-23-2 autocannon mounted on the truck).
The vehicle also gained recognition abroad, with a total of 4,659 units exported to the USSR, Hungary, Angola, Yemen, Libya, and Burma.
As of 2015, the Polish Armed Forces still operate approximately 13,000 STAR 266 trucks across all variants. The unit in our collection was manufactured in 1978 and originated from Military Unit 3775—the 34th Radio-Technical Battalion based in Chojnice.
Technical specifications:
Length / width / height: 6.82 / 2.5 / 3.15 m
Curb weight: 7,350 kg
Payload (road/off-road): 5 / 3.5 t
Propulsion: S359 diesel engine, inline, 6-cylinder, 6.84 L displacement, 150 hp
Average fuel consumption: 27 L / 100 km
Maximum speed: 90 km/h
