Hyundai Rotem displayed the K2 main battle tank, on order from Poland, at the annual MSPO trade show (Breaking Defense)
BELFAST — South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem is confident a second contract covering180 Polish Army K2PL main battle tanks and 81 supporting vehicles will be signed by November, amid reports an agreement has been postponed because of industry contracting and financial problems.
The forthcoming agreement, known as Executive Contract 2 (EC2), opens the way for a number of the tanks to be manufactured in Poland for the first time and was set to be signed at the country’s annual International Defence Industry Exhibition (MSPO) last week.
Warsaw originally signed a framework agreement covering 1,000 K2 tanks in 2022, part of an extraordinary spending spree in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that also included orders of 672 Hanwhai K9 self-propelled howitzers and 48 KAI FA-50 light combat aircraft. All told, the package came with an estimated $14.5 billion price tag.However, that total agreement is really broken up into a series of smaller tranches, and to this point only the first K2 tranche has actually been agreed to.
Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Poland’s deputy prime minister and defense minister, said after talks in July with his South Korean counterpart, that cooperation had been agreed on the transfer to Polish industry of “all technical information” relating to the K2, so local suppliers, led by the state owned PGZ, could prepare to produce the vehicles. At that time, Kosiniak-Kamysz suggested EC2 would be signed at MSPO. “This is the goal, so that tanks from this tranche are produced in Poland,” he noted.
Ultimately, though, the signing of EC2 during MSPO, proved “too ambitious” because there is “so much work to be done,” Euiseong Lee, defense solutions senior vice president at Hyundai Rotem, told Breaking Defense. “We are working on it, so we hope to sign it by October or November.”
The K2 is equipped with a 120mm/55 caliber smoothbore gun, 7.62mm coaxial machine gun, an automatic loader capable of firing 16 rounds and self protection systems including automatic fire suppression technology, composite armor and a nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) protection suite, according to Hyundai Rotem.
The upgraded K2PL tank will, additionally, be equipped with a remote control weapons system, counter UAS jammer and an active protection system, though a final configuration could take “several years” to develop, said Lee.
Local manufacturer Military Automotive Works (WZM), based in Poznan, has proposed producing 12 components “from PGZ companies” for the upgraded tank, according to Defence 24, a Polish military trade publication.
Lee said that Hyundai Rotem and the Polish Armaments Agency are currently in talks about which components will be produced by “Polish companies.” He declined to comment on any specific parts or subsystems under discussion.
Pavel Bejda, Polish deputy minister of national defense and Euiseong Lee, defense solutions senior vice president at Hyundai Rotem, discuss the K2 main battle tank at MSPO, Poland (Breaking Defense)
He noted Hyundai will collaborate with PGZ so that the Polish manufacturer “will be able to establish the production line,” which will also include technology transfers for in-country maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) infrastructure.
“This [K2PL design] will really enhance survivability,” he added, stressing that the Ukraine war has demonstrated the need for new land vehicles to be able to “confront” drones.
“Delivery time is also crucial, so what we need to do, step by step, is gradually increase performance,” of the K2PL. “Otherwise it takes too long. So the first K2PL will be equipped with these advanced systems, we believe, and the next batch” is to receive additional upgrades, said Lee. “We don’t know yet,” what that future configuration will look like, “but nowadays, technology leads” the way.
Despite the future roadmap for the tank shared by Lee, Poland’s new government continues to face criticism from opposition lawmakers over the pace of high profile arms deals, including the K2.
In a translated Tuesday post on X (formerly Twitter), Mariusz Blaszczak, PiS (Law and Justice) party chair and former Polish minister of defense, said, “Another contract is going to waste,” in response to a Rzeczpospolita report (Polish business newspaper) claiming an acquisition of 486 US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) will be cancelled. “This government is wasting a historic opportunity to build one of NATO’s strongest armies in Poland. In less than a year, contracts for K2 tanks, K9 and Krab [self-propelled] howitzers were cancelled,” added Blaszczak.
The Polish Ministry of National Defence and Lockheed Martin had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication. The US State Department deferred questions about the HIMARS acquisition to the Polish government.
