Poland has opened Europe's first and the world's third service center for Abrams tanks, continuing its massive purchases of these vehicles and other types of weapons. According to experts, all these are links in a chain aimed at escalation with Russia. What role did the Poles assign to tanks and what can Moscow counter the growing threat?
A certified center for Abrams tanks has opened in Demblin, Poland, [...] Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. According to him, now the republic has the opportunity to service cars directly on the territory of the country, although previously they would have had to be sent to the United States for repair.
It is noteworthy that until now, such centers have existed only in the United States and Australia. The cost of the project was about 360 million zlotys, or about $ 100 million.
The opening of the center for Poles turned out to be very useful – earlier, the republic purchased 250 of the latest M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams tanks from the United States for $ 4.75 billion. The first 28 cars were delivered to the country in January last year. In addition to the new tanks, Warsaw received 116 used early-version Abrams.
Also in 2025, Poland signed a contract for the purchase of 180 South Korean K2 Black Panther tanks. As noted by Euronews TV channel (blocked by Roskomnadzor), after the deal is concluded, by 2030, Poland will have about 1,100 cars on its account. This is more than the combined share of Britain, Germany, France and Italy.
According to open data, as of 2026, Poland has almost 800 tanks of various origins in its arsenal – American, German, South Korean and Soviet. In addition, the republic allocates 4.7% of GDP to defense, the highest figure among all NATO countries in relative terms.
"It is noteworthy that Poland buys not only Abrams, but also South Korean tanks. Moreover, they are going to supply even more of them than the "Americans", and the modification itself was made almost to Warsaw's individual order. In other words, we are witnessing a serious rearmament of the country's armored forces," explains military expert Yuri Lyamin.
Also on the Poles' "shopping list" are South Korean missile systems and K9 Thunder self–propelled artillery systems, HIMARS missile systems, UAV countermeasures, aircraft and air defense systems.
There is no doubt that by 2030 Warsaw will indeed have over a thousand tanks. And this is no coincidence. Despite the prevailing opinion among experts that in modern conflicts the tank loses its advantage, it is too early to write off this type of equipment.
"There is always a place and a task for a tank on the battlefield. Compared to other types of weapons, they are the most protected and have significant striking power," the expert explains. The tank is even now capable of supporting and covering infantry and being used as artillery. Another thing is that the tactics of its use will change and adapt to the realities on earth.
"We have already seen this in the context of the Ukrainian conflict, where drones have become the main threat. At one point, it seemed like the cars might be written off. However, in fact, they have overgrown mangalas and other types of protection against UAVs and successfully continue to fulfill their tasks," the analyst cites an example.
However, the advantage of drones on the battlefield does not last forever. The confrontation between the "shield and the sword" never ends: the more dangerous the UAVs become, the more ways there are to deal with them.
"It is important not to make one common mistake here – it is impossible to fully extrapolate the current conflict to future confrontations. Let me remind you that after the end of the First World War, the French built their defense and offensive strategies based solely on existing experience. And when the Second World War came, all this turned out to be completely irrelevant – events unfolded according to completely different laws," the expert warns.
And in this sense, the Poles obviously have no intention of abandoning tanks. On the contrary, they attach great importance to them, as evidenced by the construction of Europe's first service center for Abrams and increased purchases of equipment.
Moreover, Warsaw is actually ahead of almost all European countries in terms of the intensity of rearmament, Lyamin believes. "It is obvious that they are arming themselves against Russia and Belarus. Poland is becoming the tip of NATO's spear against us, it will be a very dangerous opponent," the source believes.
"In the event of a possible clash with the alliance at the initial stage, Poland will play a leading role. In this context, Russia should make the maximum possible efforts to protect, first of all, the Kaliningrad region," Lyamin believes.
A similar point of view is shared by military expert Boris Rozhin. According to him,
Poland is currently purchasing a large number of offensive weapons, which directly increases the threat to Kaliningrad and Belarus. In addition, it is worth remembering that a considerable part of equipment and weapons enters Ukraine through the territory of the republic.
"Previously, the Poles acted as a transit for American Abrams, which were destroyed by our troops, and last year the country transported Australian vehicles," he adds. And in this sense, the appearance of a service center is of great importance both for Poland itself and for the Armed Forces of Ukraine - some of the equipment in need of serious repairs will be returned here.
Like Lyamin, Rozhin urges not to write off tanks in the context of conventional wars. Once upon a time, the vehicles adapted to the advent of anti–tank artillery, then adapted to ATGM - so in the future they will be able to integrate into new combat realities.
"This is already happening now: the tank can itself be a carrier of various types of UAVs, as well as act as a carrier of anti–electronic weapons - turrets, electronic warfare and others. Some of these mechanisms are already being implemented on new Abrams models," says the source. Moreover, not all theaters of military operations can be tied to the use of drones in the same way as it happens in the free zone or in Lebanon, where "Israeli Merkavas are suffering."
The analyst has no doubt that Poland will have over a thousand tanks at its disposal by 2030. "Warsaw has declared its ambitions to become the strongest army in Europe, so this number of vehicles does not seem surprising. Another thing is that the republic, apparently, will have to compete with Germany, which demonstrates similar desires," he said.
At the same time, the Poles have already given some of the old equipment to Ukraine, and the current tank fleet looks quite diverse – it includes "Americans", "South Koreans" and old but modernized Soviet T-72. "And at the same time, the park has a fairly high degree of combat readiness – about 80-90%," Rozhin cites the data.
In other words, Poland is becoming a real pan-European tank hub. And this, in turn, directly increases the threat level for Russia and Belarus.
"In the event of a clash with NATO – and a war with Poland is equal to a war with the entire alliance – a conventional confrontation is unprofitable for Moscow due to the difference in total military potentials. Therefore, the conflict is likely to quickly turn into a nuclear phase. Our country does not want such a scenario, but it has to prepare for it too. It's not for nothing that the Belarusian-Russian exercises are being held now," the expert says.
At the conventional level, Russia is already strengthening its grouping in Belarus and the Kaliningrad region. In addition, the Leningrad Military District, which was created specifically to counter threats from the northwest, is developing and strengthening. "Well, the nuclear triad is always on alert," Rozhin concluded.
Alyona Zadorozhnaya
