On Monday, July 14, 2025, Paweł Bejda, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of National Defence responsible for overseeing the technical modernization of the Polish Armed Forces, together with the Armament Agency, announced via social media that a shipment of 155 mm K9A1 Thunder self-propelled howitzers had arrived in Poland from the Republic of Korea, marking the second delivery of this type in 2025.
Photo: Paweł Bejda via X
“The unloading took place over the weekend, and today the howitzers are already in the hangars of the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade of the 18th Mechanised Division. We’re talking about six K9 self-propelled howitzers — their artillery fire is an invaluable ally of the Polish Armed Forces,” wrote the Deputy Minister at the Ministry of National Defence on the social media platform X.
“It may be vacation season, but not for us , the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade, and certainly not for the logisticians from the Armed Forces Support Inspectorate. We modernize the Polish Armed Forces year-round, 24/7,” reads a post by the Armament Agency.
The previous delivery of howitzers to Poland took place on February 21 of this year. It included eight units (in May, 18 guns were handed over to two divisions). With the latest shipment, the number of K9A1 Thunders in service with the Polish Armed Forces has increased to 150 units. According to reports, the shipment arrived aboard the transport vessel BBC SEBASTOPOL, which departed the Korean port of Masan on May 26 and docked in Gdańsk on July 11.
Deliveries of K9A1 Thunder howitzers are being carried out under the first implementation contract, signed on August 26, 2022, with a net value of 2.4 billion USD (11.38 billion PLN net / 13.99 billion PLN gross). The agreement, signed with Hanwha Defense (now Hanwha Aerospace), covers the delivery of 212 K9A1 howitzers between 2022 and 2026.
On December 1, 2023, 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 six additional K9A1 howitzers in 2025, as well as 146 K9PL howitzers in 2026–2027. On December 2, 2024, the Ministry of National Defence announced the commencement of the contract’s implementation.
Additionally, on December 23, 2024, the ministry signed a contract with Huta Stalowa Wola (HSW), part of the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ), worth nearly 8 billion PLN for the delivery of more than 250 support vehicles for the K9 self-propelled howitzers.
In October 2024, troops from the 1st Masurian Artillery Brigade, along with K9A1 Thunder howitzers, took part in the Akktuli-24 exercise in Estonia. This marked the first foreign deployment of these artillery systems (Tests of Anti-Drone Shields on Polish K9A1 Thunder and WR-40 Langusta systems).
Wakacje wakacjami, ale nie u nas, @1WBPanc, a i też nie u logistyków z @IWsp_SZ – modernizujemy Wojsko Polskie całorocznie, całodobowo. https://t.co/sR6NiuaK2T
— Agencja Uzbrojenia (@AgencjaUzbr) July 14, 2025