Poland has finalized a deal to amass a second batch of 180 South Korean tanks below a 2022 settlement that may ultimately see Warsaw increase its arsenal with nearly 1,000 of the armored autos.
The deal underlines Poland’s emergence as a considerable European army power, 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 rising 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 increase 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 assist autos, ammunition, and logistics and coaching packages for the Polish Military.
The deal for the K2 foremost battle tanks, considered among the many world’s strongest, consists of 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 accordance with South Korea’s Protection Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), which oversees Seoul’s international army gross sales.
A K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzer takes half in an Armed Forces Day army parade in Warsaw, Poland, on August 15, 2023. – Damian Lemaski/Bloomberg/Getty Pictures/File
Sixty of the batch of 180 tanks might 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 yr, it mentioned.
In 2022, the 2 international locations 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 tip of the yr, 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 autos would, partially, change Soviet-era tanks that Poland has donated to Ukraine to make use of in its battle towards Russia.
A March report from the Wilson Heart based mostly in Washington, DC, mentioned Poland has given Ukraine greater than 300 tanks and greater than 350 infantry combating autos and armored personnel carriers.
Poland has been on edge in current days after Russia ramped up drone assaults on Ukraine.
A Russian drone barrage towards the northwestern Ukrainian metropolis of Lutsk was so intense it precipitated 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 enhance protection spending within the face of the Russian menace. Warsaw’s protection spending has grown from 2.7% of GDP in 2022 to an anticipated 4.7% in 2025, in accordance with the report.
“Of all NATO allies, it spends the highest 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 Heart report mentioned Poland has “arguably emerged as Europe’s most succesful army energy.”
However a Might report from the RAND Corp suppose tank expressed warning over the financing of Poland’s arms buildup.
Lots of its purchases are “financed by means of direct loans from international locations supplying gear,” RAND mentioned, including: “If securing such loans proves inconceivable, 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 exterior Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 28, 2025. – Sergei Supinksy/AFP/Getty Pictures/File
In the meantime, South Korea has emerged because the world’s Tenth-largest arms exporter over the previous 5 years, in accordance with the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute.
Over that span, Poland has acquired 46% of South Korean army exports, adopted by the Philippines at 14% and India at 7%, in accordance with the SIPRI’s Tendencies in Worldwide Arms Transfers 2024 report.
Because the struggle in Ukraine has dragged on, in addition to Israel’s struggle in Gaza, US army help 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 accordance with a 2024 report from the DC-based Stimson Heart.
And Seoul’s arms business might change into essential to Washington sooner or later, the report mentioned.
“Elevated South Korean protection industrial base capability, significantly in arms and shipbuilding, has the potential to instantly assist america,” the report mentioned.
Shipbuilding is seen as a specific space of South Korean army 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 below the 2022 framework, with 38 remaining to be delivered, in accordance 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 thus far, in accordance with producer Korean Aerospace Industries.
For extra CNN information and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
