The speed with which Poland is arming itself is really impressive. Not even 3 months have passed since conclusion of a contract for the supply of South Korean K2 Black Panther tanks and 155 mm self-propelled guns K9 Thunder, as our neighbors have already received the first tank company and battery of self-propelled guns. This is reported by Korea Defense Blog.

The transfer of the first batches of military equipment took place in Korea at the Hyundai Rotem (K2 tanks) and Hanwha Defense (K9 self-propelled guns) factories, respectively. Delivery of machines directly to Poland should take place by the end of 2022.

Currently, we are talking about the first 10 K2 Black Panther tanks out of 180 ordered and 24 K9 Thunder self-propelled guns out of 212 ordered. By the beginning of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, respectively, all ordered tanks and self-propelled guns should be delivered to the Polish Army. In addition, after that, Poland has to produce another 820 K2PL tanks and 460 K9 self-propelled guns under the K9A2 index at its own facilities. Impressive numbers!

It seems that soon the strongest NATO army in Europe will be the army of Poland.

K2 Black Panther Specifications
Weight – 55 tons
Length – 10.8 m
Width – 3.6 m
Height – 2.4 m
Crew – 3 (commander, gunner, and driver)
Protection – POSCO MIL-12560H armored steel and a secret auxiliary component; modular additional armor ERA and NERA; active missile defense
Main armament – a 120-mm gun Hyundai WIA CN08 with a length of 55 calibers
Ammunition – 40 shells
Secondary armament – 12.7 mm (.50 BMG) heavy machine gun K6 (3200 rounds); 7.62 mm twin machine gun (12,000 rounds)
Engine – 12-cylinder water-cooled diesel MT-883 Ka-501 or Hyundai Doosan Infracore DV27K
Power – 1500 hp. (1103 kW)
Operational range – 450 km
Maximum speed – 70 km/h (highway), 50 km/h (ground)

Technical specifications of K9 Thunder
Weight – 47 tons
Length – 12 m
Width – 3.4 m
Height – 2.73 m
Crew – 5 (commander, driver, gunner, 2 chargers)
Maximum firing range – 54 km (K315 projectiles)
Armor – armored steel Bisalloy Steel
Gun – Hyundai WIA CN98
Caliber – 155 mm
Length – 52 calibers
Ammunition – 48 shots
Secondary armament – SNT Dynamics K6 12.7 mm machine gun
Engine – STX Engine/MTU Friedrichshafen MT881Ka-500
Power – 735 kW (1000 hp)
Operational range – 360 km
Maximum speed – 67 km/h