In addition to the 1000 South Korean K-2PL “Black Panther” and 250 M1A2 SEP v.3 “Abrams” ordered last year, Poland has confirmed the purchase of 116 used M1A1 Abrams tanks from the US. The treaty was actually approved by Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak on Jan. 4.
“We are strengthening the ‘iron fist’ of the Polish army to realistically and effectively deter the attacker,” he said during a visit to the 1st Armored Brigade “Warsaw” in Wesola.
This affair will be settled quickly, since the Defense Security Cooperation Agency is responsible for the export of American military equipment under the so-called FMS procedure [Foreign Military Sales], only gave the green light for this sale last December. And it valued it at $3.75 billion at the time.
However, Warsaw received obviously favorable conditions, since Mr. Blaszczak specified that the value of the new contract amounts to 1.4 billion dollars, 200 million of which will be financed by the United States as part of its military aid to Poland.
In addition to the 116 M1A1 Abrams, the Polish order also includes 12 M88A2 Hercules recovery vehicles, 8 M1074 mobilpoints and 6 M577 command armored vehicles [une variante du transport de troupes M113]26 M998 Highly Mobile Wheeled Utility Vehicle [HMMWV ou Humvee] equipped for the maintenance of tanks as well as services related to training and logistics.
The DSCA opinion covered 26 JLTV light tactical armored vehicles, ammunition and 348 machine guns [dont 116 M2 et 232 M240]. A priori, this equipment is not part of the contract signed by Warsaw. The ammunition will be the subject of a future order. Hence the discrepancy between the estimate made by the American agency last month and the amount of the Polish order.
“We are still negotiating the purchase of ammunition. But I can assure you that we are on the right track to conclude this second agreement quickly,” said MM Blaszczak.
According to the latter, the delivery of these 116 M1A1 Abrams should be completed in 2024, with the first examples expected later this year. As a reminder, the US Army has already provided its Polish counterpart with 28 M1A2 SEPv2 to immediately train the first crews as part of the Abrams Tank Training Academy established at the Biedrusko training camp near Poznan.