Polish Army Faces Problems with Financing the Maintenance of Abrams Engines

Poland has significant difficulties with the operation and repair of gas turbine engines on new Abrams tanks.

Gazeta Prawna reported on this.

As of today, the Polish army has 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks and 47 M1A2 Abrams SEP V3 tanks in service. Despite this relatively small number of vehicles, the Polish armed forces face significant difficulties in maintaining the engines in good condition.

According to Jacek Goszczynski, General Director of WZL 1 (Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze No. 1), there is currently no qualified company in Poland or Europe that can fully service and repair gas turbine engines used in Abrams tanks.

He emphasized that currently, engines have to be sent to the United States for major repairs. There, they are serviced at the Army depot in Aniston, Alabama, which is the only place in the world where complete replacement of AGT1500C gas turbine engine components is possible.

He noted that the maintenance of Abrams tank engines is similar in complexity and specificity to the maintenance of helicopter gas turbine engines.

“Unfortunately, these requirements were not taken into account when the decision to purchase these tanks was made,” Jacek Goscinski, CEO of WZL 1, shared.

In addition, the editorial board of the Polish edition of Defence24 addressed the Ministry of Defense of Poland on the issue of creating a comprehensive industrial facility in the country to service Abrams tank engines and received the following response:

“It is expected that the national defense industry’s repair facilities for Abrams tanks will be operational by 2026. Repair of AGT1500 engines is expected to start in 2028. Consultations are ongoing between WZL No. 1 and the Armed Forces Support Inspectorate. Currently, WZL No. 1 does not have the ability to repair AGT1500 engines and does not have contracts for this,” the Polish Ministry of Defense responded to a request from Defence24.

Currently, the Polish Ministry of Defense is considering the possibility of establishing an authorized service center for the repair of such engines in the country, together with Honeywell.

Additionally, it is noted that the WZL 1 plant will be the only enterprise in Poland that will be able to perform maintenance of gas turbine engines for Abrams tanks.

Along with the problems of maintaining the engines in a combat-ready condition, the issue of high fuel consumption associated with the use of a gas turbine power plant is also being actively discussed. This leads to significantly higher fuel consumption compared to Leopard 2 or K2 Black Panther tanks.

As a result, the Polish army is forced to increase the need for both fuel tankers as part of tank units and the volume of fuel purchases to support them. Amid this, some experts question the possibility of effective and long-term use of Abrams tanks in combat conditions.

Militarnyi previously reported that Poland signed an executive contract for the supply of 180 more South Korean K2 tanks. Of these, 64 vehicles will be produced in the K2PL modification, which is adapted to the needs of the Polish army.