Poland tells when to receive 116 Abrams tanks

The Inspector of the Land Forces Services, General Command of the Armed Forces, Maciej Jablonski, said this during a media briefing at the Nova Dęba training ground (near the border with Ukraine), where Polish-American exercises on the operation of Abrams tanks are taking place, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to the Polish general, the first 14 tanks are ready to be shipped from the United States and will be in service with the 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade of the Polish Armed Forces by the end of the first half of the year. The second batch of 42 tanks will be delivered to Poland in late August or early September and will also be used by the 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade. The third shipment of 60 tanks will arrive in Poland at the end of December and in early February 2024. Tanks will be put into service in the 19th Mechanized Brigade in Zhuravitsa near Przemysl.

Jablonski said that the delivery of 116 Abrams M1A1 tanks will not affect the timing of the main order - 250 new Abrams M1A2 tanks for the Polish army. According to him, two battalions of these tanks will arrive in Poland in 2025, and two more in 2026. They will be used by the 18th Mechanized Division, which is located in eastern Poland, in particular near the border with Belarus.

As Ukrinform reported, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak said on Wednesday, that Poland could be a regional center for servicing American Abrams tanks, which will be used by Poland and other countries, including Ukraine.