Polish tank forces in the process of re-equipment

PT-91 made in Poland. Photo of the Polish Ministry of Defense

Poland is currently implementing a large and ambitious program to modernize its tank fleet. In order to update it and increase its combat effectiveness, it is proposed to gradually decommission Soviet-style armored vehicles and modernize old ones tanks European production, as well as purchase a large number of new imported equipment. Some of these plans have already been completed, but several more years are required to complete all activities.

Write off or modernize

Until the beginning of last year, the Polish ground forces had a fairly large tank fleet, which included equipment of several basic models and modifications. Since the time of the Department of Internal Affairs, more than 300 T-72 tanks of several main modifications remained there. There was also approx. 230 self-built PT-91s. In recent decades, they have been supplemented by German Leopard 2 MBTs of the “2A4” (126 units) and “2A5” (105 units) versions.

Soviet-style tanks are considered morally and physically obsolete, and they are planning to be abandoned. Significant steps in this direction were made last year. As military assistance, Poland gave Ukraine almost all of its T-72s of all versions and at least 60 units. PT-91. The prospects for the remaining MBTs of these models are unknown, but generally clear. They will be written off and disposed of - at their own factories or in Ukraine.

“Leopards-2” will remain in service for now and will undergo modernization for this purpose. In the tenth years, Poland and Germany jointly developed a project to update the Leopard 2PL, and have now begun serial reconstruction of the equipment. In February 2023, it was reported that 45 tanks had already been modernized under the new project. In the medium term, all remaining Leopard 2A4/5 will be modified in a similar manner.

Sending T-72 tanks to Ukraine, April 2022. Photo Telegram / Dambiev

Thus, by the middle of the decade or later, only Leopards in the amount of approx. 230 units, and at least a significant part of them will belong to the “2PL” modification. Soviet-style equipment will be completely out of service, or only a few armored vehicles will remain.

American import

It is planned to maintain the quantitative indicators of the fleet and improve the qualitative ones through the purchase of foreign equipment. First of all, the Polish army is interested in receiving American M1 Abrams tanks of the current modification. The necessary measures for this have already been taken, and supplies of equipment have even begun.

After some negotiations, in April 2022, Warsaw and Washington entered into an intergovernmental agreement for the supply of 250 M1A2C / M1A2 SEP v.3 tanks, as well as several dozen engineering and repair and recovery vehicles for them, ammunition, spare parts, etc. The total value of such supplies reached 20 billion zlotys (approx. $4,75 billion)

Under the terms of the agreement, in the near future the United States was to provide Poland with several dozen MBTs from its inventory to begin training crews. Main deliveries were planned to begin at the end of 2024. Poland will receive M1A2C tanks, rebuilt from old M1A1s from storage. The last batch of equipment is expected in 2026. 250 tanks and auxiliary equipment will be enough to re-equip four battalions.

One of the first M1A2 tanks transferred for training of Polish crews, July 2022. Photo of the Polish Ministry of Defense

In accordance with the approved plans, in July Poland received the first of the tanks for crew training. The transfer of 28 armored vehicles continued until October. It is expected that they will serve as educational equipment over the coming years. After forming its own fleet of Abrams, the Polish army will return them to the United States.

Last year, the Polish leadership decided to expand purchases of American equipment. In July, an agreement was reached on the additional supply of two battalion sets (116 units) of M1A1 FEP tanks. These are MBTs formerly owned by the US Marine Corps. Now they are being removed from storage and sent for major repairs to extend their service life.

Necessary documents, incl. the supply contract was signed and approved by the beginning of 2023. Along with the tanks, this document included a certain amount of auxiliary equipment, ammunition, etc. As a result, the total cost of supplies reached 6,2 billion zlotys (approx. $1,4 billion)

The first M1A1 FEPs arrived in Poland at the end of June. A company set of 14 tanks, several auxiliary vehicles and other equipment were delivered from the USA. It was reported that this year another 28 tanks for two companies will be transferred to the Polish army. The remaining 74 vehicles are expected next year.

Thus, by the end of 2026, the Polish army plans to have 366 M1 Abrams tanks in service. Both the old M1A1 FEP version and the modern M1A2C will be in service at the same time. In addition, several dozen ARVs, bridge layers, etc. are expected.

Batch of M1A1 FEP tanks, March 2023. Photo by the Polish Ministry of Defense

Licensed assembly

It is curious that Poland is counting not only on the United States to update its tank fleet. South Korea will play a more important role in these processes. At the beginning of 2020, the Polish leadership announced its intention to purchase a large number of Korean K2 Black Panther tanks. Subsequently, the necessary negotiations took place and relevant agreements were prepared.

In June 2022, Warsaw and Seoul signed a memorandum of understanding outlining the main provisions for future cooperation. Later, at the end of July, the Polish company Polish Armaments Group and the South Korean Hyundai Rotem signed a framework agreement on future joint work. A month later, an agreement appeared on the supply of finished equipment - 180 tanks and other equipment worth $3,37 billion. At the beginning of September, an agreement was concluded on the joint preparation and deployment of tank production in Poland.

Existing Polish-Korean agreements provide for the supply of a total of 1 thousand K2 tanks over the next few years. First, Hyundai Rotem will produce and transfer 180 basic armored vehicles to Poland. The start of such deliveries was expected at the end of 2022.

In parallel, the two countries will prepare production facilities in Poland for licensed assembly of tanks. The new plant will be launched in 2025-26. Soon he should assemble the first batch of K2PL tanks, modified to meet the requirements of the Polish army. They want to make 820 cars at the Polish site. Their production will continue at least until the end of this decade.

The first Korean-assembled K2 tanks in Poland, December 2022. Photo: Defense24.pl

At the beginning of December, the first batch of 10 Black Panther tanks arrived in Poland. This year they delivered approx. 20 cars. New small batches may be delivered by the end of the year. Production and deliveries will continue next year. Probably, the last Korean-assembled K2s will reach the Polish army only in 2024-25. – immediately before the launch of local production.

Big plans

Thus, by now the Polish command has drawn up a plan for the re-equipment of tank units and launched its implementation. Old unnecessary equipment is being written off. Several contracts have also been concluded for the modernization or production of foreign armored vehicles of three models and several modifications. The first deliveries under these contracts have already taken place.

It is curious that Warsaw had to abandon the gradual renewal of its fleet, which implied decommissioning old equipment as new ones were received. The desire to help the Kyiv regime led to a sharp reduction in the number of tanks in units with corresponding threats to combat effectiveness. At the same time, it will take several years to restore the army’s quantitative indicators.

At the beginning of last year, Poland had approx. 800 tanks of all models. She then wrote off approx. 350 T-72 and PT-91 products, and also abandoned a small number of German Leopard 2s. As a result of these events, more than 400 tanks remained in service, and the Leopards are now the basis of this fleet. They are gradually being modernized to better meet the requirements of the Polish army.

To restore and increase the number of tank units, orders have been placed for foreign equipment. In total they want to receive approx. 1360 armored vehicles of American and South Korean production. To date, Poland has received only 42 armored vehicles of two models. However, production in South Korea and the USA will continue, and a new assembly plant will appear on Polish territory - all together they will have to solve the problem of supplying a large number of modern MBTs.

Model of the modernized K2PL tank. Production of such equipment has not yet begun. Photo: South Korean Ministry of Defense

The rearmament program that has been launched is of record volume and is associated with equally outstanding costs. Although the cost of the contract for the licensed production of K2PL tanks has not yet been announced, it is easy to calculate that the purchase of all 1360 tanks, auxiliary equipment for them, ammunition, etc. will cost Polish taxpayers almost $25 billion.

Wishes and opportunities

The Polish army is planning a major rearmament. Contracts are being concluded for the supply of a significant number of various equipment, including main tanks and rocket artillery. Due to this, it is planned to strengthen the troops and increase their potential to counter the notorious Russian threat.

Some of the processes of such rearmament have been launched and have even produced the first results. Foreign suppliers have already sent the first samples of equipment to Poland under existing contracts. The Polish leadership views these developments as a reason for optimism. It expects that all rearmament plans will be completed on time.

However, the high cost of such projects and programs, their complexity and dependence on foreign suppliers leads to known risks and additional restrictions. Whether Poland will be able to find money for all stages of rearmament, and whether foreign equipment will live up to expectations, is a big question.

Comments

[Dart2027]

Whether Poland will be able to find money for all stages of rearmament, and whether foreign equipment will live up to expectations, is a big question.

I would say this is the key question. The “Polish economic miracle” rests on subsidies from the European Union, and if they don’t exist, then even without rearmament it will have financial problems.

[VicktorVR]

Since Poland will be fine with its weapons and finances :)
Now the geyropa will arm the Poles at its own expense, it is not for nothing that they want to have the strongest army in the geyropa, then those in the geyropa who did not want to feed their army (or fed the NATO army) will feed the Polish army.

[Bingo]

Quote: VicktorVR

those who did not want to feed their army (or fed the NATO army) will feed the Polish army.

Moreover, apparently, the first thing they will do is go to Germany for reparations EU-EU, but for Abrams money must be given to mattresses)))
In general, it reminds me of a fairy tale about a white bull. Over the next few years, whoops, a plant will appear, people will appear out of thin air that won’t mess up, and they’ll immediately start making 150 tanks a year for their native Psheprashemsk... Haven’t they gone too fast? Korea riveted only 10 of these panthers in 260 years, as I looked, and you, rukosui, without a factory, accelerated in speed four or five times

[Sergei Yaroslavtsev]

No, first they will hammer you together with the sofa clown

[Dart2027]

Quote: VicktorVR

Now the geyropa will arm the Poles at its own expense,

Does she need it? This whole war was started by the United States to advance its interests. Yes, they can still control the governments of their vassals, but the elites there are hardly happy.

[bandabas]

Exactly. Who will collect strawberries and potatoes for detention? Saloformes are not eager. Probably arrogant "Bundes"?

[Russian Bear_2]

The Americans will give a loan or force the EU to fork out money to help Poland.

[Mikhail Ivanov]

The Poles always have grandiose plans, but the implementation is traditional. Things may turn out in such a way that they will not have time to rearm.
From a technical point of view, Korean tanks will be stronger than American and German ones...

[pshek]

Nie tylko Unia, zapożyczamy się w USA czy ostatnio w Korea.

[Alevil]

As I see it, Poland is being armed at a breakneck pace. Several hundred Highmars, about a hundred attack helicopters, the purchase of 1360 tanks to complement the existing ones and, I’m sure, a lot more. Moreover, the purchased tanks and equipment for them alone cost 25 billion dollars, which the Polish budget clearly cannot handle. I'm not even talking about the cost of several hundred highmars and missiles for them (which also cost a lot of money). Poland, apparently, found a very rich sponsor/sponsors who saw great potential in Poland for something there... And even if cheap and not so well-armed Ukrainian meat showed itself well, then well-prepared and very well-armed Polish meat should do the job, planned by the Polish and Ukrainian hosts to be completed. I am more than sure that the Anglo-Saxons are motivated to make such investments and such goals by the indecisiveness of the Russian leadership, because these same Anglo-Saxons are now confident that Russia will not apply the last argument under any circumstances. I myself don’t know what to think anymore. But I am convinced that mutual destruction is not the worst thing. The worst thing is if they destroy us, but we don’t destroy them.

[KosR]

There is simply an option that Ukraine will have to be dumped, so Poland is being pumped up as a military outpost. And I will argue about the indecisiveness of the Russian authorities because... they endure, but then they kick, for example the Grain Deal, Retaliation Strikes, increasing the rate of equipment production, well, the Americans are happy with everything, I wouldn’t be surprised that they lagged behind Afghanistan only for the sake of a new, more profitable mess.

[rotmistr60]

Poland has decided to implement its plans - to become the most powerful army in Europe, which it is rapidly moving towards.

Will Poland be able to find money for all stages of rearmament...

Interesting question. The Polish economy has risen and is holding up, as it was correctly written above about European subsidies, which the EU was going to significantly cut. It is not clear how they will get out of such spending on the defense industry (and they also need to make a contribution to NATO). But they are rearming and re-arming more actively than anyone else in the EU.

Will foreign technology live up to expectations?

The Poles are confident that he will acquit. But time will tell the real situation.

[paul3390]

When we say “Eurosubsidies”, we clearly mean Germany. The rest never had a penny. But Germany is not going through the best of times, and I doubt its ardent desire to arm its eastern neighbor, which is impudent to the point of lawlessness, to the teeth...

[Vadim S]

Poland has a long-standing concept of a “Polish empire from sea to sea”, and they follow it. But their population is small, and how they want to do all this is completely unclear.

[Mol_18]

The key is that Poland is creating the strongest ground army. In the EU, the militarization of Poland, as well as the whole of Europe, is primarily aimed at a big war, which they expect may begin in the future.

[Escariot]

Poland's GDP is 680 (for comparison, the Russian Federation has 1780) billion dollars, and the Poles decided to spend 4% of this GDP (this is even less than the Russian Federation before the Northeast Military District) on defense, which gives approximately 27 billion dollars a year. Moreover, the rearmament program is extended over several years and is carried out on credit on preferential terms. So Poland has money for rearmament

[karabas-barabas]

Quote from Escariot

So Poland has money for rearmament

And the economy, investments and salaries of the Poles have grown strongly over the past 20 years, and to say that Poland lives from EU subsidies is, to put it mildly, not true, farmers receive subsidies, like other EU farmers, there are just a lot of them in Poland, which is why the subsidies are large. There are probably some other programs, but this is not the basis of Poland’s budget revenues. In general, the Poles are still hardworking people and there are subsidies here and subsidies here, but the Poles and Czechs have reached almost the level of Western Europe in terms of living standards, since they have developed industry, production, and this makes them players in the military-industrial complex business. 4% for the defense industry is a record among NATO countries and taking into account the German 1%, it’s serious. They are worried about whether the Poles will be able to handle 1500 MBTs, 1000 MLRS, as many self-propelled guns, hundreds of modern aircraft in the Air Force, but I suspect that they will, they will take a loan and we will see all this in service by 2030. The better thing to worry about was where did the trillions of greens on the pen and the additional armament of the RF Armed Forces, allocated from the budget since 2011, go? This money would be enough for 3000 Armata, Coalitions and others, including their analogues Link 16, Starlink, etc., etc. I remember how, until 2022, anyone who stuttered about problems and questioned the possibility of the Russian Armed Forces to fight with NATO was fiercely downvoted; entire sheets were written proving the advantages of “analog networks” when it came to the technical = qualitative advantage of NATO weapons. My personal opinion is that the best Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation was Serdyukov. He may have been a thief, but his short tenure in office led to many important reforms; he brought a lot of things from NATO countries. He launched processes that went into reverse with the arrival of Shoigu and then completely fell apart in 2014. A good example is actually the abandonment of the Lynxes, the Italian Ivecos and the transition to the Tigers. The Italians were ready to supply a couple of hundred and then organize production. Those Lynxes that they managed to acquire were snapped up by the generals and Kadyrov’s men, since their level of protection, unlike the Tiger, is at a completely different level. I remember crazy TV programs where they promoted the Tigers and vilified Iveco. Although these Ivecos are very successful MRAPs, which have proven themselves strongly in real databases. This is an example of lobbying and disregard for the military, since GAZ Tiger is of course the worst choice of the two. Before this, UVZ’s lobbying crushed other design bureaus and greatly slowed down the development of tank building in the Russian Federation, and by the way, Serdyukov fought against them. Previously, they didn’t even want to hear anything about Ukraine as an enemy; conversations were conducted about how the Russian Armed Forces would attack NATO, and not with nuclear weapons, but with conventional weapons. Although so much money was poured in that it was really possible to arm ourselves to the teeth, and today the Ukrainian Armed Forces would not have an advantage due to more modern and accurate weapons. Before my eyes, the last 20 years of news, conversations, discussions, it was like looking into water. Yes, it would seem that everyone sees everything anyway.

[75 Sergey]

No need for dirt, these “reforms” by Taburetkin were aimed primarily at the collapse of the Army and the military-industrial complex, many military schools were liquidated, military factories and repair bases were sold.
If you call collapse reform, then yes, he is still a reformer.
As a result, he almost liquidated the armored tank plant in Omsk, but how many did he finish off with a shovel?! The relocation of aviation design bureaus alone was worth it - in one fell swoop, under a plausible pretext, a bunch of specialists were removed.

Instead of putting things in order, they decided to liquidate it.

[Wildcat]

It would be quite nice if “someone” calculated, “plus or minus,” how many tanks (taking into account new units) the Polish army should have.

IMHO: K2 and Abrams are replacing the “retired” Tvardas and Leo2s. As K2 arrives, they will replace Leo2 and Abrams completely (it’s not difficult to guess where Leo2 and Abrams will go).
In terms of money: the Poles will handle it.

[bear cub]

I saw an article about this some time ago. Ultimately, after all the orders and the start of production, they want to have between 1500 and 1700 tanks. 1000 K2/K2PL, 366 (recently 500) Abrams M1A1/M1A2sepv3, 250 Leopard (various modifications), 230 PT-91 (60 sent to Ukraine), unknown number of T-72 (2/3 sent to Ukraine). Ultimately, they want to have only 2 types of tanks, K2 and Abrams, and send all other tanks to Ukraine.

[cold wind]

Quote: Wildcat

As K2 arrives, they will replace Leo2 and Abrams completely (it’s not difficult to guess where Leo2 and Abrams will go).

Abrams are unlikely, Leo 2s will hardly replace them, and besides, if there is a war with Germany there will be difficulties with maintenance.

[bear cub]

There is some incorrect information in the article, but I don't want to correct every single one. But it is necessary to pay attention to some important points. First of all, America made a proposal that if Poland increased its order from 366 to 500 tanks, then a factory would be built in Poland where most of the components for Abrams tanks would be produced. Secondly, America wants to open a repair plant to service more than a thousand Abrams from Poland, Romania and Ukraine.
Similar solutions are offered by Korea, which is very interested in opening a plant in Poland, because this opens the way to new orders in Europe. Advanced work on adopting the infrastructure is already underway, causing America to offer to increase the order in exchange for their factory. As a rule, both sides exchange proposals, and this is what is beneficial for Poland. All expenditures on weapons were accepted by society with enthusiasm and understanding.
To the question “Could you pay an additional tax on the army so that it can resist Russia?” The answer “yes” was given by 86% of respondents. We underestimate the scale of Russophobia in Poland and the progress of militarization of this country. Another thing is that Belarus, and not Russia, is under greater threat; the process of transferring troops and opening military units near the border of Belarus is underway.

[Rumit]

Well, who is who, if Poland completes all its purchases and rearmament, it will really become the strongest army in the EU, and we, Russia and Belarus, must be ready for anything with Poland

[_KM_]

In order to so actively saturate the army with modern imported equipment, a very developed economy is needed. Poland does not have it. Moreover, thanks to the sanctions against us, it lost part of its sources of income (export of agricultural products and food products to the Russian Federation) and switched to more expensive energy resources. Europe is not eager to help Poland. This is evidenced by the refusal to purchase modern equipment and licenses for its production. It’s not for nothing that Poland began to actively cooperate with South Korea (self-propelled guns, tanks).

Therefore, the issue of economics is very acute. If Poland carries out all this modernization at its own expense, won’t this program ruin it? If the banquet is at someone else’s expense, then who are its customers and what goals do they pursue? Will the Ukrainian scenario repeat itself?

[Egor Adashev]

And someone scolded the Union for the lack of tank unification

[Egor Adashev]

And someone scolded the Union for the lack of tank unification

[75 Sergey]

Hmmm, Poland ended up screwing up with the tanks. If the amers began to intensively sell weapons left and right, it means they will have a new one, so they sold beads in the form of abramychs to the Polish aborigines.

[Mekey Iptyshev]

Poland is turning into an American cudgel. Convenient for Washington. Having cannon fodder against the Russian Federation and at the same time you can beat Berlin if they suddenly buck up against their overseas masters.

[Artyom Savin]

George Friedman, the former director of the private intelligence and analytical organization Stretfor, wrote the book “The Next 15 Years: Forecasting Events of the 100st Century” about 2020 years ago. Briefly, throughout 2030-30, Turkey, Poland and Japan are becoming established as regional powers. Russia tries unsuccessfully to do the same thing and ends up falling apart in the 40s, Poland hits the jackpot, but when dividing it up, it quarrels with Turkey. In the 60s, the Poles and Turks fought for Europe, resulting in a draw and mutual exhaustion. China is at war with its neighbors, Japan, India, Vietnam, etc. It's a draw too. The USA does not interfere (not counting police operations in Latin America, they stand above the fight, moderate and throw wood on the fire. As a result, by 70-XNUMX the USA completely controls the world. It seems that so far everything is according to the plan of the world behind the scenes.

[basilisk]

George Friedman, the former director of the private intelligence and analytical organization Stretfor, wrote the book “The Next 15 Years: Forecasting Events of the 100st Century” about 2020 years ago. Briefly, throughout 2030-30, Turkey, Poland and Japan are becoming established as regional powers. Russia tries unsuccessfully to do the same thing and ends up falling apart in the 40s, Poland hits the jackpot, but when dividing it up, it quarrels with Turkey. In the 60s, the Poles and Turks fought for Europe, resulting in a draw and mutual exhaustion. China is at war with its neighbors, Japan, India, Vietnam, etc. It's a draw too. The USA does not interfere (not counting police operations in Latin America, they stand above the fight, moderate and throw wood on the fire. As a result, by 70-XNUMX the USA completely controls the world. It seems that so far everything is according to the plan of the world behind the scenes.

No matter what, “Ostap suffered”...