Poland received 29 M1A1 Abrams battle tanks from the United States at the port of Swinoujscie in Western Pomerania. The Eastern European NATO member also received 79 Oshkosh army all-terrain vehicles, The Defense Post reports today, January 10.
Last year, Warsaw ordered a total of 116 M1A1s, in addition to another 250 M1A2 tanks that the United States has committed to supply to its NATO ally.
The agreement, worth $1.4 billion, was signed in 2023 to strengthen Poland’s defenses in the context of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the American publication notes.
Deliveries began in June last year and are expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
Poland previously announced a major increase in its defense spending. Last year the Prime Minister Mateusz Moravecki reported that the upcoming defense budget would be four percent of the country’s GDP, a significant increase from the previous year’s three percent. The budget will exceed NATO’s spending target of two percent of GDP for its members.
Poland has also begun purchasing strike systems from other countries, including 180 K2 Black Panther tanks from South Korea.
Let us recall that in October last year, representatives of the US Army reported that 31 M1A1 Abrams tanks were transferred to the Ukrainian armed forces. There are still no confirmed facts of the use of American Abrams by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in combat operations in the zone of a special military operation.
2024-01-10 05:19:00
#United #States #added #Abrams #Eastern #European #ally #EADaily
