Poland is close to concluding a contract with South Korea to purchase a further 180 K2 Black Panther tanks, some of which will be manufactured in Poland itself for the first time, the defence minister has announced.
Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz was speaking after meeting in Warsaw with his South Korean counterpart, Shin Won-sik, on Thursday.
“We have full confirmation of the will to cooperate and provide all technical information as soon as possible so that Polish arms plants can prepare for the production of K2 tanks in Poland,” said Kosiniak-Kamysz, who noted that the final contract would likely be signed in September.
Czołgi K2 będą produkowane w Polsce
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Wicepremier W. @KosiniakKamysz: Mamy pełne potwierdzenie woli współpracy i jak najszybszego przekazania wszystkich informacji o charakterze technicznym, żeby polskie zakłady zbrojeniowe mogły się przygotować do produkcji czołgów K2 w Polsce.… pic.twitter.com/MAuUggAKrY— Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej 🇵🇱 (@MON_GOV_PL) June 20, 2024
In July 2022, Poland’s former Law and Justice (PiS) government signed a framework agreement with Korean manufacturer Hyundai Rotem for the purchase of 1,000 K2 tanks. Roughly half of them were planned to be manufactured in Poland by the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ).
The following month, the PiS government signed an executive contract for the delivery of the first 180 tanks – produced in South Korea – for $3.4 billion. They began to arrive in December 2022.
Kosiniak-Kamysz said yesterday that a second executive contract would be signed in September during the International Defence Industry Exhibition MSPO in Kielce. Again, 180 tanks will be ordered, but some of them are to be manufactured in Poland this time.
“Yes, there will be production in Poland,” said Kosiniak-Kamysz. “The minister [Won-sik] has confirmed this…All efforts and resources are directed towards getting this production started as soon as possible.”
Wicepremier W. @KosiniakKamysz: Realizacja już zawartych umów, transfer technologii i polonizacja czołgów K2 to jeden z głównych tematów naszego dzisiejszego spotkania. pic.twitter.com/WNih48fliw
— Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej 🇵🇱 (@MON_GOV_PL) June 20, 2024
However, he admitted that “preparing the production line, preparing and adapting the technology to Polish conditions takes time” and claimed that “unfortunately we have inherited major delays in this area” from the previous government.
The head of South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration, Seok Jong-gun, confirmed yesterday that there is “a high possibility that the second executive contract for the K2 tank exports will be signed in Poland this September”, reports the Yonhap News Agency.
In April, Poland signed a $1.6 billion (6.4 billion zloty) deal with South Korea to purchase 72 Chunmoo rocket artillery units and several thousand tactical guided missiles, adding to 288 rocket artillery launchers ordered in 2022. Also in 2022, Poland ordered 212 K9 self-propelled howitzers from South Korea.
Those deals have been part of a major military procurement spree launched by Warsaw in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This year, Poland will spend the equivalent of 4.12% of its GDP on defence, which is the highest figure of any NATO country.
Poland is @NATO's biggest defence spender this year in relative terms.
It is spending 4.12% of GDP on defence, more than double the alliance's guideline of 2% https://t.co/8WRALkOCSt
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 19, 2024
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Main image credit: Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
