Barely a few days after the Polish press fanned the discussions between Warsaw and Washington about a possible acquisition of Abrams M1A2 SEPv3 tanks (or M1A2C), the Polish Defense Ministry confirmed this morning to have signed a memorandum of understanding to replace the 232 T-72s currently in service with 4 armored battalions by the American heavy tank, with the first deliveries which should intervene from 2022. The exact amount of the contract, as well as its terms, have not yet been communicated, but it would seem that a significant part of the armored vehicles thus acquired would be assembled in Poland, and that a center dedicated to maintenance of the Abrams will also be built on site.
By choosing the American tank, Warsaw therefore took a dominant position in Europe in the field of combat tanks. Indeed, the Polish armies will line up 4 battalions of the new American tank, alongside 4 battalions equipped with German tanks Leopard 2 A4 and A5, and 4 battalions of PT-91 tanks, a Polish version derived from the Soviet T72 and recently modernized, i.e. 12 battalions each fielding 58 heavy tanks, the largest armored force in service in Europe for at least the 15 years to come, while the country's GDP is only equivalent to a quarter of that of France and a sixth of that of Germany. In addition, the strong convergence between the equipment of the Polish and American air forces (F16, F35) and land forces (Abrams, Himars, Patriot) will certainly promote better operational and logistical cooperation between the armies of the two countries, while the Polish authorities are sparing no effort to encourage the United States to have a greater presence on its soil.
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