Polish Tank Crews to be Trained in the US - Abrams Introduction Begins

According to information released by the Polish MoD, the Polish tank crews were sent to Idaho in the US. After returning home, they would be working as the instructors for the Abrams MBT crews, with those MBTs soon to be received by the Polish military. These, as Minister Błaszczak announced after meeting the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, on 7th October, are to be delivered as early as next year. On 24th September, a person who would be officially responsible for the acquisition was designated: the Land Forces Inspector at the General Command of the Armed Forces, Div. Gen. Maciej Jabłoński.

Procurement of 250 US-made M1A2SEPv3 MBTs was announced by Deputy PM, Jarosław Kaczyński and head of the MoD Mariusz Błaszczak, on 14th July 2021. Aside from the Abrams MBTs, the procurement is also to include a broad support package, specialist vehicles, spares, training, and ammunition. The procurement is to have a total value of PLN 23.3 bn. This is what the declarations made suggest. At the same time, one needs to note that an official Letter of Request has also been submitted.

Polish Abrams MBTs are to be received by the 18th Mechanized Division, the fourth, and the latest Division of the Polish Armed Forces' land component. The procured number of MBTs will make it possible to fully re-equip the four current tank battalions (58 examples each). The structural assignment assumes that these would become a part of the 1st "Warszawska" Armoured Brigade, and the 19th "Lubelska" Mechanized Brigade (two in each). Therefore, the current MBTs these units operate (Leopard 2 and T-72 MBTS) may be transferred to other armoured elements. This would also entail a major investment in the infrastructure.