On Wednesday, August the 10th , at the Military Training Centre in Poznań, Mariusz Błaszczak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, watched the training of Polish soldiers on Abrams tanks. In the training conducted by the American side as a part of the so-called The Abrams Academy, a total of approximately 150 soldiers, including technical staff, instructors and crews who will later be users of the equipment will take part by the end of 2022.
 
The M1A2 ABRAMS SEPv3 version purchased by Poland have the specification identical to the equipment used by the US armed forces. The tanks are equipped with state-of-the-art communication, vehicle positioning and combat management systems. The tanks will be mainly used by the 18th Mechanized Division. In April this year, Mariusz Błaszczak, the deputy prime minister of the Ministry of National Defence, signed a contract for the purchase of 250 American M1A2 Abrams tanks in their latest configuration, along with accompanying equipment and a training package.

“I would like to emphasize that when we announced the purchase of 250 ABRAMS tanks for the purposes of the Polish Army, we said that the process of preparation for the takeover of these tanks by the Polish Army would be very fast, and we get just the effects of those actions. The course has begun, the training has begun, which enables Polish soldiers and Polish technicians to quickly prepare for servicing ABRAMS tanks”

- said the deputy prime minister.

"Our goal is that the tanks will be used by the Polish Army, can be operated by trained soldiers and it will happen next year. (...) We also care about interoperability and  building interoperability with the US military. General Kolasheski is the commander of the US Army's V Corps, the forward element of this corps is permanently stationed in Poland and it is and from here those American soldiers are stationed on the entire eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance are commanded, from Poznań, from Poland. This is very good news, because it builds the defence capabilities of the Republic of Poland, such a cooperation between the Polish Army and the United States military. The fact of the constant presence of the V Corps of the US Army and the fact of joint exercises of Polish and American soldiers"

- said the head of the Ministry of National Defence.
 
The deputy prime minister also thanked everyone who is involved in the process of training Polish soldiers.

"A year ago, we decided that Abrams would be used by the Polish Army. This year, training is already underway, next year there will be the first units of the part of our contract that concerns filling the gaps in our defence capabilities, so soldiers of the Polish Army and technicians will be prepared to take over their duties of servicing Abrams tanks overnight, and thanks to that, Poland will be more secure, thanks to that all countries on the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance will be more secure"

- said the deputy prime minister.

>>>GALLERY – Polish soldiers train on Abrams tanks