Nine Black Panther Tanks Delivered to Poland

A new batch of nine K2 Black Panther tanks has arrived in Poland from South Korea.

The tanks were delivered to the Polish Army’s 15th Giżycko Mechanized Brigade.

A single cargo vessel transported and unloaded the shipment at the port of Świnoujście.

With this delivery, Poland has received a total of 133 K2GF Black Panther tanks.

Hyundai Rotem supplies the vehicles under the first contract signed with Poland’s Armaments Agency in August 2022.

The agreement covers the delivery of 180 K2 tanks by the end of 2025.

It also includes training, maintenance support, and ammunition supply.

Poland additionally plans to produce the K2PL version of the tank domestically. Production is scheduled to begin in 2028, with a total of 500 tanks expected to be built.

Hyundai Rotem will supply another 320 K2PL tanks, bringing the total planned number of K2 tanks for the Polish Armed Forces to 1,000 by 2035.

The K2 Black Panther is South Korea’s most advanced main battle tank.

However, Polish military officials have noted that their armor protection needs improvement, despite other strengths.

Given the requirements of the customer and the experience of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Hyundai Rotem and the Polish state-run defense group PGZ are jointly developing the K2PL version, tailored to meet Poland’s operational needs and lessons learned from the war in Ukraine.

In March, it was reported that Poland intends to double the number of K2 tanks it purchases from South Korea.