On Wednesday, January 4, in the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade in Wesoła, Mariusz Błaszczak, Deputy Prime Minister-Minister of National Defense, approved a contract for the supply of 116 M1A1 ABRAMS tanks for the Polish Army.

Last year, we signed an agreement on the acquisition of 250 Abrams tanks in the most modern version. These tanks will be in the equipment of the Polish Army already at the end of 2024 - by the end of next year. We are still negotiating the details, but the tanks for which I approved the contracts today will already be in the equipment of the Polish Army this year. And this is our great achievement that already this year the first copies of Abrams tanks will be in the Polish Army. The entire process of equipping the Polish Armed Forces with 116 Abrams tanks will end next year

- said the Vice-President of the Council of Ministers during the meeting with the soldiers.

The subject of the contract concluded with the American side is the supply of 116 M1A1 ABRAMS tanks, which will be adapted to the requirements of the Polish Armed Forces, together with the accompanying equipment, including 12 M88A2 HERCULES recovery vehicles, 8 M1074 JOINT ASSAULT BRIDGE’s, 6 M577 command vehicles and 26 NG SECM workshops on the HMMWV chassis, as well as training and logistics packages.

The contract is the first stage of the project, which also includes a significant number of modern types of live ammunition, as well as training ammunition, in accordance with the maximum contract’s scope approved by the US Congress. The orders, including sub-caliber armor-piercing ammunition or multi-purpose programmable ammunition, will be implemented successively.

Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that Polish-American cooperation has reached the stage "in which we can talk about very measurable details of strengthening Polish-American relations, as evidenced by the approved agreement".

These tanks will be stationed right here, in Wesoła. The tanks will go to the east of our country, in order to effectively deter the aggressor. (…) I thank you for our Polish-American cooperation, the effect of which is the fact that Polish tankers are already training on Abrams tanks at the training ground in Biedrusko. Thanks to that they will be able to smoothly take over their duties regarding the use of Abrams tanks that will be delivered here to the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade. Thank you very much for this close Polish-American military cooperation. Thank you for the exercises that take place almost constantly between Polish and American troops.

- added the head of the Ministry of National Defense.

The total value of the contract is approx. USD 1.4 billion net, of which nearly USD 200 million is financed by the American side under the aid funds granted to Poland. The deliveries of tanks and other military equipment will start this year and will be completed by the end of 2024 r.

The contract provides for the acquisition of 116 Abrams tanks along with technical vehicles. The entire support package is guaranteed as well. We are negotiating an accompanying agreement, which concerns the ammunition acquisition of large quantities for the needs of the Polish Army. This is a task that still lies ahead of us, but due to the fact that I wanted Abrams tanks to be delivered to the Polish Armed Forces as soon as possible, we decided to divide this process into two parts. Now we are still negotiating the issue of ammunition, but I can assure you that we are on the right track to quickly finalize this second agreement as well. (…) Arguably, a battalion consisting of Abrams tanks will be in the equipment of the Polish Armed Forces already this year as Polish soldiers are trained to take up their duties on the spot. This is our joint success - Polish-American one.

- noted Deputy Prime Minister M. Błaszczak.

The logistics package includes a stock of spare and consumable parts and equipment for tank maintenance, as well as mobile container armament repair workshops and diagnostic devices. The training package includes comprehensive training for instructors, crews and technical staff. Deputy Prime Minister also emphasized that the contract also includes a support package for the Abrams.

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The acquired M1A1 ABRAMS tanks will be in the equipment of the 18th Mechanized Division, in addition to the 250 state-of-the-art M1A2 SEP v.3 ABRAMS tanks already contracted in April 2022. They were acquired for the amount of USD 4.75 billion, together with the accompanying equipment, including 26 M88A2 HERCULES technical recovery vehicles and 17 M1074 JOINT ASSAULT BRIDGE’s, as well as training and logistics packages, and a supply of ammunition.

Deliveries of the M1A2 SEP v.3 tanks are scheduled for 2025-2026. As far as possible, the delivery dates of the first vehicles will be accelerated. In 2022, on the basis of a separate agreement, the United States Army moved 28 M1A2 SEP v.2 ABRAMS tanks to Poland, together with instructors for training Polish crews, as part of the Abrams Academy, launched at the Land Forces Training Center in Poznań.