The Polish defence minister has said that South Korea will deliver the first tanks and howitzers Poland will order by the end of the year.
Mariusz Blaszczak said on Tuesday that they are expecting to deliver the K 2 main battle tanks and the self-propelled K 9 howitzers this year, in 2022, as he opened a Polish-Korean defence industry conference in Warsaw.
In 2023 we expect the delivery of the FA-50 aircraft and the Chunmoo rocket artillery systems as well, according to Blaszczak.
In July, Poland signed a USD 5.8 billion deal with South Korea for a set of defence equipment including 180 K 2 tanks to be delivered by the end of 2025 and 212 howitzers to be shipped to Poland by 2026.
In his address, Blaszczak praised the fast pace at which the negotiations with South Korea had been conducted as well as their effectiveness, which resulted in a number of contracts signed.
The cooperation will benefit the Polish defence industry, according to Blaszczak.
The Polish Armaments Group estimates its share in K 2 PL, K 9 PL and Chunmoo projects is more than PLN 60 billion EUR 12.81 bln, adding that a number of components and weapons systems for the South Korean designs will be manufactured in Poland.
As it handed some of its weaponry to Ukraine, Blaszczak said that Poland needed to replenish its defence equipment with more advanced weapons.