Poland signed Wednesday contracts to purchase South Korean weapons including tanks, artillery and fighter jets as the NATO member bordering Russia and Ukraine boosts its defences.

The amount of the contracts, signed at a ceremony in the Polish capital with representatives of Korea Aerospace Industries and Hyundai, was not provided.

"We're drawing lessons from what's happening in Ukraine," Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told journalists after the ceremony.

"Time is pressing, we need to equip the Polish military," he added.

Defence ministry officials said the first of the 48 FA-50 light combat fighter jets will arrive next year.

The aircraft are meant to replace Soviet MiG-29s still in service in the Polish air force, alongside US-made F-16 and eventually F-35 stealth jets.

The head of Korea Aerospace Industries, Ahn Hyunho, said the company plans to progressively transfer production of the planes to Poland.

Poland will also initially buy 180 K2 "Black Panther" tanks built by Hyundai Rotem before eventually acquiring more than 800 of a special variant to be called K2PL, production of which is start in Poland in 2026.

Delivery of 48 K9 howitzers is expected this year, but the Polish defence ministry said that the acquisition of another approximately 600 of them will begin in 2024, with domestic production slated to start in 2026.

Earlier this month, Poland said it would buy 32 AW149 multi-role military helicopters worth 1.75 billion euros ($1.77 billion) from Italian arms company Leonardo.

It has also ordered 366 American Abrams tanks and European surface-to-air missile systems.

Poland finalised last year a deal to buy 32 F-35s and has around 50 F-16 fighters in service.

sw/rl/raz

HYUNDAI MOTOR

Related Links
The Military Industrial Complex at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Poland to buy South Korean tanks, planes
Warsaw (AFP) July 22, 2022
Poland, a NATO member bordering Ukraine, will buy tanks, howitzers and fighter planes from South Korea, the government said Friday as Warsaw shores up its defences. "Next week, we are signing deals," Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak tweeted. The deal includes 48 FA-50 light combat fighter jets, 180 K2 "Black Panther" tanks and an undefined number of K9 howitzers, Blaszczak said, quoted by wPolityce website. The first batch of howitzers and tanks will arrive at the end of 2022, and t ... read more