Poland to buy planes and tanks from South Korea

WARSAW, July 22 (DPA/EP) –

The Polish authorities have announced their intention to acquire aircraft and combat tanks from South Korea in a decision aimed at strengthening the capabilities of the Polish Armed Forces.

According to the Polish Defense Minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, Warsaw is interested in acquiring up to 58 ‘FA-50’ model combat aircraft, and the contracts “should be signed next week,” according to the PAP agency.

These aircraft would also be joined by the South Korean-made ‘K2 Black Panther’ model tanks, the most advanced of those available to the Seoul Army. “Already this year we will receive the first units, a total of 180 tanks in the first batch,” said the minister.

Already in the future, Poland will be able to manufacture these tanks under its own license and will be in a position to develop them even further.

Along with the planes and tanks, Warsaw will include in its acquisitions several ‘K’ model self-propelled howitzers, also made in South Korea.

However, despite listing the models and even the amounts of each arms supply, Minister Blaszczak has not specified the amounts to be paid for these operations.

Poland is immersed in a campaign to strengthen its weapons capabilities in order to counteract a hypothetical threat from Russia.

In addition, the Polish authorities have also ceded a large part of their weapons to Ukraine to defend themselves from the Russian attack, which is now in the situation of replacing everything that has been sent to kyiv.