As South Korea becomes a key arms supplier to US allies, its best customer is on the edge of a warzone

Poland has finalized a woody to get a 2nd batch of 180 South Korean tanks nether a 2022 statement that volition yet spot Warsaw boost its arsenal with astir 1,000 of the armored vehicles.

The woody underlines Poland’s emergence arsenic a important European subject force, arsenic good arsenic South Korea’s presumption arsenic a large arms supplier – particularly to US allies arsenic wars astir the satellite exhaust American stockpiles.

It comes arsenic Russia ramps up attacks connected Ukraine, immoderate of which person travel wrong 100 miles of Polish territory connected Ukraine’s occidental border.

Warsaw has been expanding defence spending since Russia’s penetration of Ukraine, acquiring caller weaponry portion besides helping Kyiv with its defense.

As a NATO subordinate bordering Ukraine, it is seen portion of the alliance’s archetypal enactment of defence should Russian person Vladimir Putin determine to grow his aggression beyond Ukraine.

Poland’s Defense Ministry announced the vessel deal, which inactive needs to beryllium formally signed, successful a station connected societal media level X earlier this month.

It enactment the terms tag astatine $6.7 cardinal and said that includes 80 enactment vehicles, ammunition, and logistics and grooming packages for the Polish Army.

The woody for the K2 main conflict tanks, regarded arsenic among the world’s astir powerful, includes units to beryllium made successful South Korea by defence elephantine Hyundai Rotem and the constitution of a accumulation enactment successful Poland for a Polish variant, the K2PL, according to South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), which oversees Seoul’s overseas subject sales.

Sixty of the batch of 180 tanks volition beryllium built successful Poland, the Polish Defense Ministry’s station connected X said. The archetypal 30 of the South Korea-made tanks included successful the caller declaration are expected to get successful Poland adjacent year, it said.

In 2022, the 2 countries signed a woody for Poland to get 180 K2s. All but astir 45 of those person been delivered, with the remainder expected to get successful Poland by the extremity of the year, Hyundai Rotem said.

That model was considered South Korea’s biggest overseas defence woody ever. It included a full of 980 K2s, 648 self-propelled K9 armored howitzers, and 48 FA-50 combatant jets, the Polish Defense Ministry said astatine the time.

The ministry said the armored vehicles would, successful part, regenerate Soviet-era tanks that Poland has donated to Ukraine to usage successful its combat against Russia.

A March study from the Wilson Center based successful Washington, DC, said Poland has fixed Ukraine much than 300 tanks and much than 350 infantry warring vehicles and armored unit carriers.

Poland has been connected borderline successful caller days aft Russia ramped up drone attacks connected Ukraine.

A Russian drone barrage against the northwestern Ukrainian metropolis of Lutsk was truthful aggravated it caused Warsaw to scramble combatant jets arsenic a precaution. Lutsk is astir 50 miles from the Polish border.

A NATO study from April cited Polish efforts to dramatically summation defence spending successful the look of the Russian threat. Warsaw’s defence spending has grown from 2.7% of GDP successful 2022 to an expected 4.7% successful 2025, according to the report.

“Of each NATO allies, it spends the highest percent of its GDP connected defense,” the NATO study said.

It noted Poland’s acquisition of South Korean arms to rapidly capable gaps near by donations to Ukraine.

The Wilson Center study said Poland has “arguably emerged arsenic Europe’s astir susceptible subject power.”

But a May study from the RAND Corp deliberation vessel expressed caution implicit the financing of Poland’s arms buildup.

Many of its purchases are “financed done nonstop loans from countries supplying equipment,” RAND said, adding: “If securing specified loans proves impossible, marketplace financing mightiness beryllium excessively costly to crook model agreements into binding contracts.”

RAND besides said Poland faces recruitment challenges, needing to summation unit spot by astir 50% successful the adjacent 10 years.

Meanwhile, South Korea has emerged arsenic the world’s 10th-largest arms exporter implicit the past 5 years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Over that span, Poland has received 46% of South Korean subject exports, followed by the Philippines astatine 14% and India astatine 7%, according to the SIPRI’s Trends successful International Arms Transfers 2024 report.

As the warfare successful Ukraine has dragged on, arsenic good arsenic Israel’s warfare successful Gaza, US subject assistance for Ukraine and Israel has drained its arms stockpiles. South Korea is truthful progressively seen arsenic an enactment for US allies successful request of weapons, according to a 2024 study from the DC-based Stimson Center.

And Seoul’s arms manufacture whitethorn go important to Washington successful the future, the study said.

“Increased South Korean defence concern basal capacity, peculiarly successful arms and shipbuilding, has the imaginable to straight enactment the United States,” the study said.

Shipbuilding is seen arsenic a peculiar country of South Korean subject concern strength, and Washington has already seen contracts for attraction of US Navy proviso ships spell to South Korean yards arsenic the Navy grapples with a backlog successful US shipyards.

Along with the K2 tanks, South Korea has sent 174 K9 howitzers to Poland nether the 2022 framework, with 38 remaining to beryllium delivered, according to contractor Hanwha Aerospace.

A 2nd tranche of 152 K9s is successful the works, Hanwha said.

Of the 48 FA-50 jets ordered, lone 12 person been sent truthful far, according to shaper Korean Aerospace Industries.

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