Poland has finalized a deal to amass a second batch of 180 South Korean tanks underneath a 2022 settlement that may ultimately see Warsaw enhance its arsenal with nearly 1,000 of the armored automobiles.
The deal underlines Poland’s emergence as a considerable European navy pressure, in addition to South Korea’s standing as a significant arms provider – particularly to US allies as wars around the globe exhaust American stockpiles.
It comes as Russia ramps up assaults on Ukraine, a few of which have come inside 100 miles of Polish territory on Ukraine’s western border.
Warsaw has been growing protection spending since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, buying new weaponry whereas additionally serving to Kyiv with its protection.
As a NATO member bordering Ukraine, it’s seen a part of the alliance’s first line of protection ought to Russian chief Vladimir Putin resolve to develop his aggression past Ukraine.
Poland’s Protection Ministry introduced the tank deal, which nonetheless must be formally signed, in a submit on social media platform X earlier this month.
It put the worth tag at $6.7 billion and mentioned that features 80 help automobiles, ammunition, and logistics and coaching packages for the Polish Military.
The deal for the K2 important battle tanks, thought to be among the many world’s strongest, contains items to be made in South Korea by protection big Hyundai Rotem and the institution of a manufacturing line in Poland for a Polish variant, the K2PL, in line with South Korea’s Protection Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), which oversees Seoul’s international navy gross sales.
A K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzer takes half in an Armed Forces Day navy parade in Warsaw, Poland, on August 15, 2023. – Damian Lemaski/Bloomberg/Getty Photographs/File
Sixty of the batch of 180 tanks can be inbuilt Poland, the Polish Protection Ministry’s submit on X mentioned. The primary 30 of the South Korea-made tanks included within the new contract are anticipated to reach in Poland subsequent 12 months, it mentioned.
In 2022, the 2 nations signed a deal for Poland to get 180 K2s. All however about 45 of these have been delivered, with the rest anticipated to reach in Poland by the top of the 12 months, Hyundai Rotem mentioned.
That framework was thought-about South Korea’s greatest abroad protection deal ever. It included a complete of 980 K2s, 648 self-propelled K9 armored howitzers, and 48 FA-50 fighter jets, the Polish Protection Ministry mentioned on the time.
The ministry mentioned the armored automobiles would, partially, substitute Soviet-era tanks that Poland has donated to Ukraine to make use of in its struggle in opposition to Russia.
A March report from the Wilson Middle based mostly in Washington, DC, mentioned Poland has given Ukraine greater than 300 tanks and greater than 350 infantry preventing automobiles and armored personnel carriers.
Poland has been on edge in latest days after Russia ramped up drone assaults on Ukraine.
A Russian drone barrage in opposition to the northwestern Ukrainian metropolis of Lutsk was so intense it brought on Warsaw to scramble fighter jets as a precaution. Lutsk is about 50 miles from the Polish border.
A NATO report from April cited Polish efforts to dramatically improve protection spending within the face of the Russian risk. Warsaw’s protection spending has grown from 2.7% of GDP in 2022 to an anticipated 4.7% in 2025, in line with the report.
“Of all NATO allies, it spends the very best proportion of its GDP on protection,” the NATO report mentioned.
It famous Poland’s buy of South Korean arms to shortly fill gaps left by donations to Ukraine.
The Wilson Middle report mentioned Poland has “arguably emerged as Europe’s most succesful navy energy.”
However a Could report from the RAND Corp suppose tank expressed warning over the financing of Poland’s arms buildup.
Lots of its purchases are “financed via direct loans from nations supplying gear,” RAND mentioned, including: “If securing such loans proves not possible, market financing is likely to be too costly to show framework agreements into binding contracts.”
RAND additionally mentioned Poland faces recruitment challenges, needing to extend troop power by nearly 50% within the subsequent 10 years.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Poland’s President Andrzej Duda greet one another as they arrive for his or her assembly outdoors Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 28, 2025. – Sergei Supinksy/AFP/Getty Photographs/File
In the meantime, South Korea has emerged because the world’s Tenth-largest arms exporter over the previous 5 years, in line with the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute.
Over that span, Poland has obtained 46% of South Korean navy exports, adopted by the Philippines at 14% and India at 7%, in line with the SIPRI’s Tendencies in Worldwide Arms Transfers 2024 report.
Because the conflict in Ukraine has dragged on, in addition to Israel’s conflict in Gaza, US navy support for Ukraine and Israel has drained its arms stockpiles. South Korea is subsequently more and more seen as an choice for US allies in want of weapons, in line with a 2024 report from the DC-based Stimson Middle.
And Seoul’s arms trade might develop into essential to Washington sooner or later, the report mentioned.
“Elevated South Korean protection industrial base capability, notably in arms and shipbuilding, has the potential to instantly help the US,” the report mentioned.
Shipbuilding is seen as a specific space of South Korean navy industrial power, and Washington has already seen contracts for upkeep of US Navy provide ships go to South Korean yards because the Navy grapples with a backlog in US shipyards.
Together with the K2 tanks, South Korea has despatched 174 K9 howitzers to Poland underneath the 2022 framework, with 38 remaining to be delivered, in line with contractor Hanwha Aerospace.
A second tranche of 152 K9s is within the works, Hanwha mentioned.
Of the 48 FA-50 jets ordered, solely 12 have been despatched to date, in line with producer Korean Aerospace Industries.
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