On Tuesday, December 17, 2024, a transport ship arrived in Poland from the Republic of Korea, carrying 7 additional K2GF Heuk-Pyo (Black Panther) tanks, 16 K9A1 Thunder self-propelled howitzers, and 6 Homar-K (K239 Chunmoo) multiple rocket launcher modules.
Photos: Paweł Bejda via X
“We now have a complete set of K2 tanks for this year. Seven tanks have arrived in Poland, making a total of 84. The Polish Armed Forces have also received additional K9 howitzers and Homar-K launchers. The deliveries of K9 are proceeding according to plan, and the delivery of the launchers was expedited—this is the second of the shipments originally scheduled for next year,” announced Paweł Bejda, Secretary of State in the Ministry of National Defense responsible for overseeing the technical modernization of the Polish Armed Forces, on the social media platform X.
“Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s a K2 tank! Despite unfavorable wind conditions, we managed to seize a moment of calm to unload the ship carrying 7 tanks, 16 K9 howitzers, and 6 Homar-K modules,” reads a post on the Armament Agency’s profile, where a video of the unloading operation was shared.
Thanks to the above deliveries, the planned shipments of Hyundai Rotem-produced tanks for this year are complete. This means that the Korean side has now delivered a total of 84 tanks.
In 2025, the remaining 96 vehicles will be delivered to Poland, finalizing the implementation contract signed on August 26, 2022, valued at 3.37 billion USD net (15.98 billion PLN net / 19.65 billion PLN gross) for a total of 180 tanks.
Meanwhile, on November 14 of this year, the first vehicles of this type were delivered to the 9th Braniewo Armored Cavalry Brigade, part of the 16th Mechanized Division, where they will replace PT-91 Twardy tanks.
On December 9 of this year, Deputy Minister Bejda conducted another round of talks with the Korean side regarding the signing of a second implementation contract for the delivery of K2 tanks, which includes establishing maintenance (MRO) and production capabilities for the K2PL tank in Poland. According to earlier reports, this agreement is expected to cover the delivery of 180 K2 tanks and 81 support vehicles. All of this is part of a framework agreement for a total of 1,000 K2GF/PL tanks (Hyundai Rotem’s offer of the Polish-adapted K2PL for the Polish Armed Forces).
As for military equipment produced by Hanwha Aerospace, specifically the 155-mm K9A1 Thunder self-propelled howitzers and Homar-K multiple rocket launchers, thanks to the latest deliveries:
- the number of K9A1 Thunder units has increased to 136;
- the number of Homar-K MRL units has increased to 72.
The deliveries of the former are being carried out under the first implementation 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 the contract, 212 K9A1 howitzers are to be delivered between 2022 and 2026. On December 1 of last year, the Armament Agency signed a second implementation 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.
Meanwhile, the Homar-K MRL modules, as before, will be sent to Huta Stalowa Wola (part of the Polish Armaments Group) for integration with Jelcz P882.57 TS T45 K-MLRS 8×8 chassis, the Topaz battle management system, the Fonet digital vehicular communication platform, and the Radmor radio communication system from the WB Group.
On October 19, 2022, the Armament Agency signed a framework agreement with Hanwha Aerospace for the acquisition of 288 K239 Chunmoo launchers. On November 4, 2022, the first implementation contract was signed for 218 launcher modules, along with logistics and training packages, an ammunition stockpile consisting of several thousand precision-guided munitions with ranges of 80 km (Chunmoo 239 mm Missile) and 290 km (600 mm Long Range Missile), and technical support from the manufacturer. The contract is valued at 3.55 billion USD net.
During a visit by the Polish delegation to Korea on April 25 of this year, a second implementation contract was signed, valued at approximately 1.6 billion USD net (6.45 billion PLN net / 7.93 billion PLN gross), for the delivery of 72 launcher modules along with logistics and training packages and the integration of Homar-K launchers. The contract also includes the supply of several thousand precision-guided munitions with ranges of 80 km and 290 km (CTM-290), as well as technical support from the manufacturer. Delivery dates are scheduled for 2026–2029. As a result, the total number of launchers will increase to 290 (two of which will likely be delivered to the Artillery and Armament Training Center in Toruń).
On December 2 of this year, it was announced that the implementation of the second contract for howitzers and rocket launchers had begun.
Mamy komplet na ten rok czołgów K2. Do Polski przypłynęło 7 czołgów, łącznie 84. #WojskoPolskie otrzymało też kolejne haubuce K9 i wyrzutnie Homar-K. Dostawy K9 idą zgodnie z planem, dostawę wyrzutni udało się przyspieszyć i jest to druga z zaplanowanych na przyszły rok dostaw pic.twitter.com/6Z3h5ia7HW
— Paweł Bejda (@pawelbejda) December 17, 2024
https://twitter.com/AgencjaUzbr/status/1868933717781364984
Update
The K9A1 Thunder howitzers will be delivered to the 19th Chełm Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion of the 19th Mechanized Brigade, which is part of the 18th Mechanized Division.
🇵🇱 Kolejna dostawa armatohaubic #K9Thunder przypłynęła do Polski!
Po raz pierwszy nowoczesne armatohaubice K9 trafią do 19 Brygady Zmechanizowanej, wchodzącej w skład 18 Dywizji Zmechanizowanej. To kolejny krok w modernizacji i wzmacnianiu potencjału bojowego #WojskoPolskie. pic.twitter.com/DQBlUdGuXb
— 18 Dywizja Zmechanizowana (@Zelazna_Dywizja) December 18, 2024
https://twitter.com/DGeneralneRSZ/status/1869305933937230286