By Brad Lendon, Yoonjung Seo and Joseph Ataman CNN
Poland is buying about 1,000 tanks, more than 600 artillery pieces and dozens of fighter jets from South Korea, as part of upgrading equipment donated to Ukraine to combat the Russian invasion of Kyiv, Poland’s Defense Ministry told CNN on Tuesday.
The deal, which is expected to be officially announced wednesday in Poland, will see Warsaw acquire 980 tanks of the South Korean K2 model, 648 K9 self-propelled armoured howitzers and 48 FA-50 fighter jets, the ministry said. the price of the agreement.
The first 180 K2 tanks, manufactured through Hyundai Rotem and fitted with 120mm self-loading guns, are expected to arrive this year, with production of 800 tanks improved from 2026 in Poland, according to the ministry.
The first 48 K9 howitzers, manufactured through Hanwha Defense, are also expected to arrive this year, with delivery of a momentary batch of six hundred expected to begin in 2024. Starting in 2025, they will be produced in Poland, the ministry said.
The ministry said those armored vehicles would upgrade Soviet-era tanks Poland gave Ukraine to use in its fight against Russia.
The ministry’s comments to CNN come after Poland’s Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak tweeted on July 22 that the deal would “particularly build Poland’s security and the strength of the Polish army. “
CNN reached out to South Korea’s management of the defense procurement program and weapons brands for comment.
Chun In-Bum, a retired South Korean general, said the deal with Poland is the largest arms export pact Seoul has ever made.
He praised the weapons involved.
“The K9 (howitzer) Array. . . it is the most productive artillery formula in the world, rivaled only through the German formula. The FA-50 is a combat edition of the T-50, which has earned a reputation for being the most productive. master in the global inventory. The K2 tank in its most recent edition will be bigger than anything South Korea has to date,” Chun said.
Leif-Eric Easley, an associate professor of foreign studies at Ewha Women’s University in Seoul, said the arms deal has its roots in the management of former President Moon Jae-in, who was seeking primary foreign contracts to bring South Korea’s defense industries to life.
Moon’s successor, President Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office in May, also needs to boost exports, Easley said.
“But in Ukraine the geopolitical stakes are rising” for Seoul, Easley said.
The cost-effective arms deal with NATO member Poland, South Korea, will have to share the “burden of protecting foreign order,” Easley said.
“Washington and NATO will expect Seoul to increase its aid to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, even if it is a burden on South Korea’s economy,” Easley said.
Since joining NATO in 1999, Poland has a key member of the 30-member alliance and has purchased U. S. -made military equipment. In the U. S. , it added major Abrams war tanks and F-35 stealth fighters.
Poland has also become one of the main supporters of the Kyiv government after russia’s invasion, making deals to send more than two hundred tanks and self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine.
During a visit to Seoul in May, Poland’s defense minister said the war in Ukraine showed South Korea’s pressing need for weapons for Poland.
“We talked about speeding up the delivery of those weapons to the Polish army. Why is this? For the cause of the war on our eastern border. It is that the Polish Armed Forces are provided with fashionable devices, displayed apparatus, and this is the apparatus produced through Korea,” Błaszczak said at the time.
He said South Korea and Poland faced similar security conditions and needed similar weapons.
“Why is the Korean device being tested? Because Korea has the challenge of its northern neighbor, which also follows a competitive policy, our task is to equip the Polish armed forces with a fashionable apparatus. Equipment that will deter the aggressor. That apparatus is, without a doubt. . . produced in Korea,” Błaszczak said.
Some defense industry analysts, however, do south Korea’s weapons are suitable for Europe.
Nicholas Drummond, a defence industry analyst specialising in ground warfare and a former British Army officer, said the K2 tank is necessarily a lower-performance edition of the German Leopard 2 main war tank.
“Same weapon. Same engine and gearbox. But in general less complicated with a lower electronic architecture. . . Not a bad tank. But the kind of dominance,” he said.
Drummond also said the Asian-made devices could eventually face supply chain problems and a war in Europe.
“It is right for Asian countries to buy from Korea because those consumers can receive support without problems in times of war. But supporting European consumers in an emergency will probably be more difficult,” he said.
The FA-50 aircraft, produced through Korea Aerospace Industries in agreement with the American defense giant Lockheed Martin, is a soft supersonic fighter aircraft, for ground attacks and some air-to-air missions.
The aircraft, piloted by the South Korean Air Force since 2013, is armed with Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, Maverick air-to-ground missiles and a three-gun 30mm cannon for strafing races. pumps
The FA-50, in its combat and education versions, found export consumers in Colombia, Indonesia, Iraq, the Philippines and Thailand. But with its order for 48 planes, Poland would be the largest aircraft operator outside of South Korea.
El-CNN-Wire™
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