On Saturday, January 18, 2025, as announced by the Ministry of National Defense, a transport ship from the United States arrived at the port of Gdynia carrying 28 state-of-the-art M1A2SEPv3 Abrams tanks (System Enhanced Package version 3) from the batch of 250 vehicles ordered in 2022 for the Polish Army.
Photos: Ministry Of National Defense / Paweł Sobkowicz (Polska Zbrojna)
“The first M1A2SEPv3 Abrams tanks are already in Poland. After being transported by sea, 28 Abrams tanks will undergo an inspection and then enter service in the Polish Army. Ultimately, we will have 250 of these Abrams tanks,” wrote Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz on his profile on the social media platform X last night.
“28 M1A2SEPv3 Abrams tanks have arrived in Gdynia! They will soon enter service with the Polish Army. Ultimately, we will have 250 of the most advanced Abrams tanks,” wrote Paweł Bejda, Secretary of State at the Ministry of National Defense, who is responsible for overseeing the technical modernization of the Polish Armed Forces.
Separately, the Armament Agency announced that the tanks will next be transported to the Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne (WZM S.A.) in Poznań, a company that is a part of the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ), where the Abrams Regional Competence Center is located. There, they will undergo a so-called deprocessing—a comprehensive initial inspection following the long sea transport.
According to earlier media reports from October 31, 2024, the first shipment of Abrams tanks was expected to arrive by the end of the year (within a few weeks, according to a representative of the manufacturer, General Dynamics Land Systems, though this did not happen—editor’s note). On December 16, 2024, social media posts showed photos of the tanks, presumably intended for Poland, still located in the United States.
M1A2SEPv3 Abrams for Poland
On April 5, 2022, the Ministry of National Defense signed an agreement with the United States Government worth 4.75 billion USD for the delivery of 250 M1A2SEPv3 Abrams tanks, along with accompanying equipment, including 26 M88A2 HERCULES armored recovery vehicles and 17 M1074 JAB (Joint Assault Bridge) combat support bridges. The contract also includes a training package, logistics support, and a stockpile of ammunition.
They will complement the 116 previously delivered used M1A1FEP (Firepower Enhancement Package) tanks. The last shipment arrived in Poland on June 26, 2024, while on November 26, the rearming of the second unit—the 1st Tank Battalion of the 19th Mechanized Brigade from Żurawica—began. Previously, the tanks had been delivered to the 1st Tank Battalion of the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade from Wesoła.
The first funds for the Polish M1A2SEPv3 tanks were allocated as early as May 13, 2022, covering the provision of technical support services for Abrams tanks for the U.S. Army, Poland, and Saudi Arabia. Then, on August 25 of the same year, GDLS announced the signing of the main production contract worth up to 1.148 billion USD (then 5.47 billion PLN) with the U.S. Army under the FMS (Foreign Military Sales) program.
On October 31, 2023, the U.S. Army Contracting Command signed an 82.645 million USD (340.73 million PLN) contract with Lockheed Martin for the construction of an AGTS (Advanced Gunnery Training System) training center for Abrams tanks in Wesoła.
On November 2, 2023, the Danish company Systematic Software Engineering announced that it would supply the SitaWare Frontline software package, a C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computer, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) system, for all Polish M1A1FEP and M1A2SEPv3 tanks, as well as support vehicles. Additionally, on December 27, the Armament Agency ordered twelve Kroton-bis Command Vehicles from Rosomak, a company within the Polish Armaments Group, for units that will be rearmed with M1A2SEPv3 tanks.
On November 16, 2023, the Armament Agency announced the start of negotiations with the United States regarding the purchase of 25 M1150 ABV (Assault Breacher Vehicles) based on the Abrams platform. There are also plans to acquire additional M88A2 HERCULES armored recovery vehicles and container-based automotive and tank maintenance workshops.
On September 20 and December 19, 2024, the U.S. Army Contracting Command signed two contracts for the support of, among others, Polish Abrams tanks. Meanwhile, on January 7 of this year, the American company Allison Transmission Inc. received an order for the delivery of upgraded DDA X-1100-3B automatic transmissions for M1A2SEPv3 Abrams tanks for the U.S. Army and export users.
So far, the Polish Armed Forces have received 144 Abrams tanks of both versions out of 366 ordered, which complement 84 K2GF Heuk-Pyo (Black Panther) tanks out of 180 ordered (with a total of 1,000 planned). These tanks are intended to eventually replace all T-72M1/M1R and PT-91 Twardy tanks. Additionally, the fleet is supplemented by 105 Leopard 2A5 tanks and Leopard 2A4 tanks, which are being modernized to the Leopard 2PL/M1 standard. So far, 62 out of 128 Leopard 2A4 tanks have been upgraded, as per the contract, which includes an option for 14 more. However, an equal number of Leopard 2A4 tanks were transferred to war-torn Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/KosiniakKamysz/status/1880719562204962884
https://twitter.com/pawelbejda/status/1880752349834330377