On Wednesday, the head of the Ministry of National Defense announced at a press conference about the completion of the negotiations on the second contracting agreement with Hyundai Rot for the delivery of K2 tanks. He announced that the contracting agreement will be signed soon, the Polish side is ready, but is waiting to sign it with the new Minister of the South Korea Defense.
“The contract will apply to 180 tanks, 80 accompanying vehicles and a full package, which has never been implemented in contracts for K2 tanks before. I am especially talking about support carts, accompanying cars, which are the direct part of the infrastructure. Without them, the tank itself cannot be used effectively” – emphasized the deputy prime minister and head of the Ministry of National Defense.
He noted that out of 180 tanks, over 60 will be in the polonized version. The first few tanks in the K2PL version are to be produced still in Korea, and the remaining partner in Poland and the basic partner as part of the Polish Armaments Group will be here Bumar-Łabędy.
The contracting agreement is worth $ 6.7 billion in a dollars negotiated with the Korean side.
“The price is much lower than if we signed a contract 2-3 months ago,” said the head of the Ministry of National Defense. He thanked the Armament Agency for negotiations and “great contribution”.
The president of Hyundai Rotu Yongbae Lee said that it was not only that the signing of a contract for the supply of arms equipment was announced, but above all it is the beginning of a historic partnership for the production of the K2 tank in Poland.
“This is an important moment symbolizing trust and strategic partnership between Poland and Korea. We believe that this agreement will be a solid foundation for the development of the defense industry and strengthening the security of Poland” – emphasized Lee.
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At the end of July 2022, Poland and South Korea declared a strategic partnership in the field of arms. In addition to the K2 tanks, the Polish government was purchased in the Republic of Korean, K9 armatohaubice and light FA-50 combat aircraft. Agreements regarding the purchase of South Korean weapons for the Polish army, including tanks, were approved in July 2022 by the then head of the Ministry of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak.
According to the agreement approved in 2022, Poland is to receive a total of 1000 new K2 tanks. In 2022, an executive agreement was signed for the supply of the first 180 tanks from this pool.
