TSAMTO, June 28th. The United States has completed the supply of 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks to Poland, the General Staff of the Polish Army said.
"We already have a full set of 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks. – The last transport of 47 M1A1 Abrams tanks has arrived in Poland," RIA Novosti quotes a message from the General Staff.
"Now the newest M1A2 Abrams tanks are awaiting shipment to Poland, of which we have ordered 250 units," the Gestab added.
Information from CAMTO on Poland's purchase program for the M1A1 Abrams MBT
On January 4, 2023, at the location of the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade of the Polish Armed Forces, in the presence of Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak, a contract signing ceremony was held for the purchase of 116 MBT M1A1 Abrams.
The subject of the contract concluded with the American side was the supply of 116 M1A1 tanks, which will be adapted to the requirements of the Polish Armed Forces, as well as related equipment, including 12 M88A2 HERCULES BREMS, 8 M1074 unified assault bridges, 6 control vehicles and 26 NG SECM repair vehicles on the HMMWV chassis, as well as a training and logistics kit.
The contract is the first stage of the project, which also includes the supply of a significant amount of modern combat and training ammunition in accordance with the maximum volume of the request approved by the US Congress. Orders for sub-caliber armor-piercing ammunition and multipurpose programmable ammunition will be carried out sequentially, in accordance with the needs of the Polish Armed Forces.
The total value of the contract is $ 1.4 billion, of which about $ 200 million was financed by the American side at the expense of military assistance provided to Poland. Tank deliveries began in 2023 and ended in the summer of 2024.
The logistics package includes spare parts and consumables, as well as tank maintenance equipment, mobile container workshops for armament repair and diagnostic equipment.
The training package includes comprehensive training for instructors, crews and technical staff.
The M1A1 Abrams MBT will become part of the 18th Mechanized Division in addition to the 250 M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams tanks contracted in April 2022. Deliveries of the M1A2 SEPv3 are scheduled for 2025-2026, but will be completed faster if possible. In addition, in 2022, on the basis of a separate agreement, the United States Army delivered 28 M1A2 SEPv2 tanks to Poland to train Polish crews on the basis of the Abrams Academy established at the Army Training Center in Poznan.
The implementation of the Wilk program, which provides for the purchase of new tanks to replace the T-72M1 and PT-91 Tvards of the Polish Armed Forces, began in 2017.
In July 2021, Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak announced the decision to purchase 250 M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams tanks for the Polish Armed Forces.
In July 2022, Polish Minister of National Defense M. Blaszczak announced that an agreement had been reached with the US administration on the additional supply of 116 MBT M1A1 Abrams from the US Army. According to the plans, Poland will purchase a batch of used Abrams, which will allow to man two battalions and fill the gap created after the transfer of 240 modernized T-72 tanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The first M1A2 Abrams tanks, designed to train Polish military personnel, arrived in Poland in July 2022.
According to The Military Balance 2022, before the start of hostilities in Ukraine, there were 126 Leopard-2A4 MBT (in the process of upgrading to the Leopard-2PL version), 105 Leopard-2A5 MBT, 16 Leopard-2PL MBT, 232 PT-91 MBTTvards" and 318 MBT T-72A/T-72M1/T-72M1R.
The plans of the Polish Ministry of Defense also include the purchase of up to 1,000 K2 Black Panther tanks of South Korean production. The contract worth $3.37 billion for the supply of the first 180 MBT K2 was signed on August 26, 2022.
