Poland has signed a contract for the supply of South Korean K2 Black Panther tanks and locally manufactured K2PL tanks worth $6.7 billion. The deal signifies the starting line of the nation's return to the tank-building industry after a long standstill.
Defence24 reports that a total of 180 main battle tanks have been ordered, along with 25 engineering vehicles, 25 bridge-laying vehicles and 31 armored recovery vehicles. The agreement also includes a support package along with logistics and training.
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Nastąpiło podpisanie umowy pomiędzy Szefem @AgencjaUzbr a prezesem Hyundai Rotem. pic.twitter.com/8K6wiikihj— Defence24 (@Defence24pl) August 1, 2025
The specific variants of the vehicles include 116 standard Korean K2GF tanks, already in use by Poland, and 64 K2PL tanks of local production — only the first three will be manufactured in South Korea, with all the rest at the Bumar-Łabędy plant of the PGZ company group.
The deliveries under the contract will begin in 2026 through 2027. However, this relatively quick timeline only applies to the K2GF, thanks to the large production capacity of the defense enterprises in Korea, a nation ranking third among world's biggest tank-building countries.
As for manufacturing in Poland, first K2PL tanks should appear in 2028, and the last ones to fulfill the contract by 2030. Most likely, though, the Polish military will place an additional order(s) for these tanks in the future. All 81 support vehicles will be made at Polish enterprises, too. The negotiations on the terms of the licensing and the contract overall lasted for a year and a half.
On a note from Defense Express, such timelines reflect a realistic estimate that takes into account how long it will take to deploy the necessary industrial framework to start producing tanks locally. To that end, Polish production sites will need to master the relevant competencies and install updated equipment.
Especially considering that Polish tank building has been idle since 2009, when the last contract for the PT-91 Twardy for Malaysia was completed. Although there have been attempts to initiate some new projects over the years, none of them have been successful.
Currently, NATO produces only one tank: the German Leopard 2. By the time Poland launches the K2PL assembly lines, the picture will liven up with German Rheinmetall also preparing KF51 Panther shipment for Italy, and Turkiye supplying Altay to the national forces.
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