- Poland has signed a $6.7 billion contract with South Korea to acquire 180 additional K2 main battle tanks in the customized K2PL configuration, enhancing its armored forces and defense autonomy.
- The agreement includes significant technology transfer, enabling partial domestic production of the K2PL tanks at the Bumar-?ab?dy plant, marking Poland's return to tank manufacturing after over a decade.
- This deal builds on a 2022 agreement for the initial 180 K2 tanks and is part of a larger framework for up to 1,000 units, along with additional purchases of Chunmoo rocket launchers, K9 howitzers and FA-50 aircraft.
- Prime Minister Donald Tusk has pledged to shift defense spending toward Polish companies and scientific institutions, reinforcing the strategic goal of domestic defense self-reliance.
- The first K2PL tanks and supporting vehicles are expected to arrive in 2026, following delays in finalizing the latest phase of the agreement.
Poland has signed a new contract with South Korea to acquire 180 additional K2 main battle tanks, this time in the customized K2PL configuration tailored specifically for Polish needs, to strengthen its armored capabilities and revitalize its defense industry.
Under the $6.7 billion deal, Hyundai Rotem will deliver the tanks along with a range of supporting vehicles, including engineering and technical support units. Crucially, the agreement also includes a significant technology transfer that will enable domestic production of a portion of the tanks in the K2PL configuration at the Bumar-Lab?dy SA facilities, part of the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ). In addition to the K2 main battle tanks, Poland has also purchased 288 K239 Chunmoo rocket launchers, 672 K9 self-propelled howitzers and a total of 48 FA-50 light combat and training aircraft.
The K2PL configuration will include significant local upgrades and customization, enhancing Poland's self-sufficiency in defense manufacturing. Deliveries under this new agreement are expected to begin in 2026.
The agreement, finalized at the Bumar-?ab?dy defense plant in Gliwice, was signed by Gen. Artur Kuptel, head of Poland's Armaments Agency, and Yongbae Lee, president of Hyundai Rotem, the South Korean manufacturer. Top Polish and South Korean officials, including Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense W?adys?aw Kosiniak-Kamysz and South Korea's Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, also attended the signing ceremony.
"This is a historic moment, because the perspective is approaching when the production of tanks will return to Poland and will return to this place," said Adam Leszkiewicz, president of PGZ.
Poland seeks to revive domestic production with South Korean partnership
Poland has been a key defense partner for South Korea in recent years, securing a series of major armaments contracts.
This latest agreement builds on an initial deal signed in July 2022 under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government, which secured the first batch of 180 K2 tanks and established a broader framework for the potential delivery of up to 1,000 units. Under this framework, the remaining 820 tanks were to undergo further "Polonization," integration of local components and systems, with long-term plans for domestic production in Poland. (Related: Poland confirms NATO troops are in Ukraine.)
In line with this, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reaffirmed his commitment to overseeing the redirection of defense spending toward the domestic market, promising to personally monitor the process in a recent visit to the Air Force Institute of Technology (ITWL) with Deputy Minister of National Defense Cezary Tomczyk.
"We will fundamentally change the proportions. There is no reason why equipment comparable in quality, comparable technical thought, when it comes to the level, abroad is preferred compared to Polish companies, Polish scientific institutes, Polish engineers, Polish scientists," Tusk said in his speech in July, adding that "sufficiently much money went to invest in companies that work, produce, operate outside the territory of Poland."
According to the 2022 framework, the K2 is set to become the primary main battle tank of the Polish Army. Since then, negotiations have been ongoing regarding follow-up contracts and expanded technology transfer from South Korea. The latest implementation agreement, signed in Gliwice, had faced several delays, including an anticipated announcement at the MSPO defense expo in Kielce in September of last year.
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