Poland doubles down on South Korean tanks with $6.5 billion deal

WARSAW, Poland — In a bid to expand the tracked vehicle fleet of the country’s land forces, the Polish Ministry of National Defence has ordered 180 K2 Black Panther tanks with 81 accompanying vehicles from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem. The deal is worth around $6.5 billion.

The contract was signed today in Gliwice, Poland, in the presence of Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, the nation’s Deputy Prime Minister and National Defence Minister, and South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back who is on an official visit to Poland.

Under the plan, the tanks are to be supplied to the Polish Armed Forces between 2026 and 2030. Of these, 116 tanks will be produced in the K2GF variant which is manufactured in South Korea, and 64 vehicles will be procured in the K2PL variant, the Polish ministry said in a statement.

After the first three K2PL units are made at a South Korean plant, Poland’s defense industry will take over manufacturing activities for the remaining 61 tanks of this version. Bumar-Łabędy, a subsidiary of the state-owned PGZ group, will handle their production.

“The new units will be better equipped than the existing ones, and production will be launched next year. In the years 2028 to 2030, we plan to have full-scale domestic production,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said during the signing ceremony.

The latest development marks Poland’s second executive deal for the purchase of K2 tanks. In 2022, the country ordered the first batch of 180 tracked vehicles. Under the framework contract, Warsaw can acquire up to 1,000 K2s which could make it the main tank used by the nation’s land forces.

The tank deal comes following heated negotiations between Warsaw and Seoul on the financial terms of the contracted South Korean weapon deliveries secured by the previous Polish government.

In addition to the K2 framework agreement, the centrist cabinet of Prime Minister Donald Tusk inherited numerous major contracts for the purchase of FA-50 light attack aircraft, K9 howitzers , and Chunmoo launchers.

Poland has accelerated efforts to expand its tank fleet in the aftermath of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Looking to benefit from South Korea’s mass production capacities and lenient policy toward technology transfers, Warsaw has moved to acquire South Korean defense equipment at a scale that makes it Seoul’s key client in Europe.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——为扩充波兰陆军履带式车辆部队，波兰国防部已向韩国现代Rotem公司订购180辆K2“黑豹”坦克及81辆配套车辆。该笔交易价值约65亿美元。

该合同今天在波兰格利维采签署，波兰副总理兼国防部长瓦迪斯瓦夫·科西尼亚克-卡梅什和正在波兰进行正式访问的韩国国防部长安圭培出席了签字仪式。

根据该计划，这些坦克将在 2026 年至 2030 年间交付给波兰武装部队。波兰国防部在一份声明中表示，其中 116 辆坦克将采用韩国制造的 K2GF 型号，64 辆将采用 K2PL 型号。

首批三辆K2PL坦克在韩国工厂生产完毕后，波兰国防工业将接手剩余61辆同型号坦克的生产工作。波兰国有PGZ集团旗下的子公司Bumar-Łabędy将负责这些坦克的生产。

科西尼亚克-卡米什在签约仪式上表示：“新装置的配置将比现有装置更好，并将于明年投产。我们计划在2028年至2030年期间实现全面国内生产。”

最新进展标志着波兰第二次签署采购K2坦克的行政协议。2022年，波兰订购了首批180辆履带式坦克。根据框架合同，华沙最多可采购1000辆K2坦克，这有望使其成为波兰陆军的主力坦克。

在华沙和首尔就前波兰政府与韩国签订的武器交付合同的财务条款进行激烈谈判之后，这笔坦克交易达成。

除了 K2 框架协议外，唐纳德·图斯克总理领导的中间派内阁还继承了许多重大合同，用于购买 FA-50 轻型攻击机、K9 榴弹炮和春武导弹发射器。

在俄罗斯持续入侵乌克兰之后，波兰加快了扩充其坦克部队的步伐。为了利用韩国的大规模生产能力和技术转让方面的宽松政策，华沙已开始大规模采购韩国国防装备，使其成为首尔在欧洲的主要客户。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。