Poland on Wednesday signed a $1.4 billion deal with the U.S. to officially buy 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks, with deliveries set to begin this year.
The Polish Ministry of Defence said $200 million of the latest Abrams contract is financed by the U.S. through foreign military funds (FMF) previously granted to Poland.
“We are strengthening the armored fist of the Polish Army. We are strengthening the Polish armed forces in order to realistically and effectively deter the aggressor,” Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said in a social media post, translated into English.
The 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks, built by General Dynamics Land Systems [GD], were previously included as part of a potential $3.75 billion foreign military sale the U.S. State Department approved in early December (Defense Daily, Dec. 6).
The recent FMS case with Poland also covers 12 of BAE Systems’ M88A2 Hercules Combat Recovery Vehicles and six M577A3 command vehicles, eight of Leonardo DRS’ M1110 Joint Assault Bridges and 29 Oshkosh Defense [OSK]-built Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, 26 Humvees, machine guns and ammunition.
Poland’s Ministry of Defence on Wednesday said the $1.4 billion deal also includes “a significant number of modern types of live ammunition, as well as training ammunition.”
The new contract is Poland’s second large procurement of U.S.-made Abrams tanks, following a deal last year to buy 250 of the newer M1A2 System Enhancement Program version 3 (SEPv3) Abrams tanks that are set to be delivered starting in January 2025.
The 250 M1A2 Abrams tanks were part of a separate $6 billion FMS case the U.S. approved in February 2022 , which also included 6 M88A2s, 17 Joint Assault Bridges, 250 AN/VLQ-12 CREW Duke counter-IED systems, 276 M2 .50 caliber machine guns, 500 M240C 7.62mm machine guns and 15 AGT1500 gas turbine engines (Defense Daily, Feb. 18).
The U.S. Army in late July then officially awarded GD Land Systems a $1.15 billion deal to build the 250 M1A2 tanks (Defense Daily, Aug. 25).
In early September, the State Department announced plans to provide $2.2 billion FMF funds to Ukraine and 18 other European countries, including Poland, which essentially serves as loans to purchase U.S.-made equipment to address long-term military investments (Defense Daily, Sept. 8).