Photos: Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Armaments Agency via XPosted on 03/05/2025 1:50:52 AM PST by Cronos
A shipment from the Republic of Korea has arrived in Poland with the first 2025 deliveries of K2GF Heuk-Pyo (Black Panther) tanks and 155mm K9A1 Thunder self-propelled howitzers.
On Friday, February 21, 2025, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, along with the Armament Agency, announced on social media that a shipment from the Republic of Korea had arrived in Poland with the first 2025 deliveries of K2GF Heuk-Pyo (Black Panther) tanks and 155mm K9A1 Thunder self-propelled howitzers.
Photos: Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Armaments Agency via X
“The last few days have brought the Polish military further deliveries of new equipment. Over the past week, 14 K2 Black Panther tanks have been delivered to the Amber Division, and in the coming days, 8 K9 self-propelled howitzers, along with additional equipment, will arrive at the Iron Division. More tanks, howitzers, and launchers are already on their way – a strong Polish Army is the key to the security of all of Europe,” wrote the Minister of National Defense on the social media platform X.
“Here at the Armament Agency, Valentine’s Day is still ongoing – in recent days, we have received further shipments of 14 Korean K2 tanks and 8 K9 self-propelled howitzers. Soon, Polish soldiers will begin training on them,” reads the post on the Armament Agency’s profile.
As for the K2GF Heuk-Pyo (Black Panther) tanks, thanks to the new delivery, their number has increased to 98 units, while the number of K9A1 Thunder howitzers has reached 144 units. The previous deliveries took place on December 17, 2024.
Earlier, on January 24 of this year, another batch of 18 Homar-K (K239 Chunmoo) multiple launch rocket system modules arrived, bringing the total number to 90 units.
For the K2GF tanks, the delivery of the remaining 82 vehicles is planned for this year, which will allow for the completion of the first execution contract from August 26, 2022, valued at 3.37 billion USD net (15.98 billion PLN net / 19.65 billion PLN gross), covering a total of 180 units.
On December 9 of last year, Deputy Minister of National Defense Paweł Bejda conducted another round of talks with the Korean side regarding the signing of a second execution contract for the delivery of K2 tanks, along with the establishment of maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) capabilities and production of the K2PL variant in Poland. According to previous reports, this agreement is expected to include the delivery of 180 K2 tanks and 81 support vehicles, all as part of a framework agreement for a total of 1,000 K2GF/PL tanks.
Deliveries of K9A1 Thunder howitzers are being carried out under the first execution contract dated August 26, 2022, valued at 2.4 billion USD net (11.38 billion PLN net / 13.99 billion PLN gross), signed with Hanwha Defense (now Hanwha Aerospace). According to this contract, a total of 212 K9A1 howitzers will be delivered between 2022 and 2026.
On December 1, 2023, the Armament Agency signed a second execution contract worth 2.6 billion USD net (10.33 billion PLN net / 12.81 billion PLN gross) for the delivery of an additional 6 K9A1 howitzers in 2025 and 146 K9PL howitzers in 2026-2027. On December 2, 2024, the Ministry of National Defense announced the commencement of this order’s implementation.
Meanwhile, on December 23, 2024, the ministry signed a contract worth nearly 8 billion PLN with Huta Stalowa Wola (HSW), a company within the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ), for the delivery of over 250 accompanying vehicles for the K9 self-propelled howitzers.
It is worth adding that on January 21 of this year, in response to an interpellation from a group of MPs regarding the situation at Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne (WZM, Military Automotive Works), Minister of State Assets Jakub Jaworowski stated that negotiations are underway concerning the co-production of additional M1A2SEPv3 Abrams tanks in Poland. However, all indications suggest that these talks are not yet taking place at the level of the Ministry of National Defense and the Armament Agency.
First 180 K2 Black Panther tanks in ROK configuration being sent to Poland are known as "K2GF" (Gap Filler). According to various sources, these K2GF tanks will later be upgraded to K2PL standard.
This hints that early concept for the larger 7 road wheel variant for K2PL was scrapped by both countries, likely to save time and cost, and additionally to make such upgrade possible. Development of the 7 road wheel variant would have resulted in a whole new tank, which would've made such upgrade impossible.
Additionally, Poland will operate a sizable fleet of M1A2 Abrams, which would serve as substitue for Polish requirement for "heavier" main battle tanks.
The K2 serves a complementary purpose to the Abrams.
It is far lighter, so lesser armored compared to the Abrams (which Poland ALSO operates) - about 10 tons lighter than an Abrams and requires fewer crew members.
The Black Panther also features a range of advanced defensive systems, such as an active protection system that can shoot down incoming projectiles.
The M1 Abrams is armed with a 120mm smoothbore gun, which is capable of firing a wide range of ammunition types, including armor-piercing and high-explosive rounds. It also has a coaxial machine gun and a remote-controlled machine gun for additional firepower.
The K2 Black Panther is armed with a 120mm smoothbore gun as well, but it reportedly has a faster rate of fire and a longer effective range than the M1's gun. It also has a coaxial machine gun and a remote-controlled machine gun, as well as a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun for close-range defense
So the operating strategy may be an abrams with a "harem" of K2s
The K2 are basically defensive in nature v/s the abrams' supreme offensive capabilities.
Next big heapum wau.pum gonna be ICBMs.
Tanks are gay.
Excuse me.
Powered by the MTU 883. A very inferior diesel engine. Our american made AVDS 1790 series is far superior.
bttt
But expensive.
The 1790 is made in muskegon mi, fully rebuildable, the mtu made in germany is a throw away. So while a higher initial cost much savings down the road. And our american made has a longer lifespan.
One wonders if they are expecting a war soon, instead of 30 years of peacetime service.
Poland might still have some Warsaw Pact-era P-91s (modified T-72s), if the Poles didn’t send all old their older stuff to Ukraine.
The Poles are essentially adding K2s, while holdiing on to their M1s and Leopard 2s, while releasing their P-91s to Ukraine.
The K2 is a bit downsized relative to the Abrams. This downsizing is a cost move. But also makes the K2 more maneuverable. The Abrams is a bitch to move from one to another theater, to maneuver within a theater, and to fuel and maintain. To be fair, the Abrams has awesome optics, orgasm-level composite armor and very well-designed fuel and ammo storage (so a hit doesn’t necessarily mean a catastrophic loss).
ALL tanks need to mount anti-drone radars and anti-drone guns (or, better, anti-drone lasers or something like that). Tanks are targets!
Peace comes through strength, military might makes polite neighbors.
ICBMs? On a modern battlefield, I’d prioritize a huge stockpile of drones, AI to guide them and the capacity to crank out relatively cheap drones at very high rates.
Unmanned Ground Vehicles would to do recon, deliver ammo and supplies to fighting positions, do mine clearance, etc would also be a high priority.
After so many years tooling around, I’m not so sure.
Military might helps when your neighbor is inherently nasty. But in this modern world very few ARE nasty. Most countries’ borders are secure because there simply isnt a reason to fear your beighbor. Paraguay does not bother much to defend itself from Brazil.
With a hard history, the Poles have few illusions and turned to South Korea when the US could not provide the weapons and equipment they needed on a quick enough schedule. In sum, Poland is preparing for war in a serious manner.
I’m of the belief that Poland is the leading military Euro power now that the Brits and French have essentially drawn back into a hole somewhere allowing their military to degrade and downsize.
Perhaps they’re buying them hoping to prevent a war.
Thanks for posting. I’ve referenced these tanks a couple of times recently, generally in the context of UK and German fecklessness. Starmer has made all sorts of militaristic promises his butt can’t keep, while the British army operates fewer tanks than a single brigade of the British Army of the Rhine in the late Cold War.
Bill Mauldin of Willie and Joe fame recognized this 80 years ago.
Poland is preparing in the event of a war in the coming 10 years.
The Abrams etc. are also important and in the purchase pipeline, but they take years to get ready, so in the meanwhile Poland wants to be ready
My guess is that the P91s will be (or are already) gone.
And it will be a kind of aircraft carrier config with the abrams being supported by K2s
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