Poland Receives New Batch of K2 Tanks, K9 Howitzers, and Homar-K MLRS

18 December, 2024 Korean K2 Black Panther tank for the Polish army. December 2024. Poland.

Photo: Pawel Bejda Another batch of main battle tanks and artillery systems was shipped to Poland by South Korea. The transport vessel arrived on Tuesday, December 17, 2024.

The Polish Armaments Agency under the Ministry of Defense stated that 7 K2 Black Panther tanks, 16 K9A1 Thunder 155mm self-propelled howitzers and 6 Homar-K (K239 Chunmoo) multiple launch rocket systems modules were delivered. The modules will be mounted in Poland on domestically produced Jelcz 882.57 8x8 chassis. As of now, the Korean side has already delivered a total of 84 tanks to the Polish military, as planned for 2024.

The previous batch of 6 tanks was delivered to Poland in November.

Korean K2 Black Panther tank for the Polish army. December 2024. Poland.

Photo: Pawel Bejda

Next year, Poland is expected to receive the remaining 96 K2 Black Panther tanks as part of a £3.4 billion agreement with Hyundai Rotem dated August 2022.

Korean K2 Black Panther tank for the Polish army. December 2024. Poland.

Photo: Pawel Bejda

The contract provides for the supply of 180 K2 Black Panther tanks by the end of 2025. Poland and South Korean companies have agreed to include training, maintenance and ammunition in the deal. State Secretary of the Ministry of National Defense Pawel Bejda, who is responsible for overseeing the technical modernization of the Polish army, noted that the delivery of K9 self-propelled artillery systems is proceeding as scheduled.

And deliveries of Homar-K rocket launchers have been accelerated. Thus, in November, Poland received another batch of 12 K9A1 Thunder under the implementation contract concluded in August 2022 for 212 units of such systems. With the December delivery, the number of these artillery systems in the Polish army increased to 136.

K9A1 Thunder self-propelled howitzer in Poland.

November 2024. Photo credits: Armed Forces of Poland

Under the contract, the artillery systems will be delivered between 2022 and 2026 with further modernization to the K9PL variant developed by experts from the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) and Hanwha Defense. Poland currently has 120 such self-propelled artillery systems.

About 460 more artillery systems are planned to be built in Poland at a new enterprise immediately in the K9PL version, starting in 2026.

The first live firings of Homar-K.

Source: Polish Armed Forces

As of October 2024, Poland has received 35 Homar-Ks, which is a Polish adaptation of the South Korean K239 Chunmoo multiple launch rocket system.

Under the two contracts, Poland will receive a total of 290 such systems and ammunition.