On December 6, 2022, the US Department of Defense Agency for Military Cooperation (Defense Security Cooperation Agency - DSCA) sent a notification to the US Congress about the planned upcoming sale to Poland through the US program of intergovernmental foreign military sales Foreign Military Sales (FMS) of 116 M1A1 Abrams main tanks from the presence of the US Army. This delivery is approved by the U.S. Department of State. The total cost of the proposed delivery will be $3.75 billion, including additional equipment and equipment, ammunition, as well as training and technical support packages.
US Army M1A1 Abrams Tanks (c) US ArmyAccording to the notification, the delivery will include, in addition to 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks, also 12 M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicles, eight M1110 Joint Assault Bridge (JAB, on the chassis of the Abrams tank), six M577A3 armored command and staff vehicles, 26 M1152A1 HMMWV vehicles and 26 light wheeled armored vehicles M1279A1 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV).
Of 120 mm tank ammunition, it is planned to supply 112 thousand armor-piercing sub-caliber shells (50 thousand M829A2, 2 thousand M829A3 and 60 thousand M829A4), 10 thousand cumulative fragmentation shells M830A1, 130 thousand high-explosive shells (60 thousand M908 and 70 thousand programmable M1147 AMR), 51751 practical projectiles (30928 M865 and 20823 M1002).
It is possible that in fact some of the ammunition intended for delivery is also intended for the 250 M1A2 SEP v.3 Abrams tanks previously ordered by Poland. At the same time, Poland will become the first foreign recipient of 120-mm armor-piercing sub-caliber shells of the M829 series with armor-piercing cores made of depleted uranium.
Recall that in July 2022, Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak announced that agreements had been reached on the purchase of 116 Abrams tanks (two battalion sets) from the United States for the Polish Army, saying that the contract "should be signed in the near future," and deliveries of these tanks will begin to Poland in 2023.
Earlier in April 2022, an intergovernmental agreement was concluded between the United States and Poland on the acquisition by Poland of 250 M1A2 SEP v.3 Abrams tanks with related equipment and property, including 26 M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicles, 17 M1074 (M1110) Joint Assault Bridge (JAB) tank bridge-laying vehicles under the American FMS program, as well as training and logistics packages and ammunition. The cost of the agreement is about $4.75 billion (about 20 billion Polish zloty).
Deliveries of M1A2 SEP v tanks.3 under this agreement should be started in Poland at the end of 2024 and completed in 2026. Tanks M1A2 SEP v.3 must be "new production" (in fact, all M1A2 SEP v2/v tanks.3 after 2000, they are rebuilt from cash M1A1 tanks with storage). According to Polish official sources, M1A2 SEP v.3 Abrams tanks should be equipped with four tank battalions of the Polish army (the regular composition of the battalion of 58 tanks) - two tank battalions of the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade named after Tadeusz Kosciuszko and the 19th Lublin Mechanized Brigade, which are part of the newly formed 18th in the eastern direction "Iron" mechanized division.
In July-October 2022, 28 M1A2 SEP v.2 Abrams tanks provided to Poland for temporary use by the US Army for training Polish personnel on purchased Abrams tanks were transferred to the Training Center of the Polish Ground Forces (Centrum Szkolenia Wojsk Lądowych) in Poznan.