Poland signs for Abrams

Polish Minister of National Defence Mariusz Blaszczak on 5 April officially signed a PLN25.3 billion ($6 billion) procurement contract for 250 M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams MBTs plus N/VLQ-12 CREW Duke counter-IED systems; 26 M88A2 Hercules armoured recovery vehicles; 17 M1110 joint assault bridges; and 276 M2 50cal and 500 M240C 7.62mmm machine guns.

Deliveries are scheduled to begin later in 2022.

Blaszczak noted in a statement on Twitter that the M1A2 SEPv3 deal began in July 2021, adding: ‘Today we are finalising this process, [and] the contract has been signed.’

The new MBTs will partially replace the 400 or so T-72M/M1s in Polish service. Given reports (in the New York Times, for instance) that the US is brokering the transfer of T-72s and other Soviet-era materiel from NATO allies to Ukraine to aid its resistance against the Russian invasion, it is not inconceivable the older Polish tanks will be donated to Kyiv.