Poland and K2 Tank 2nd Export Contract Signed… New Government’s First Large-Scale Defense Industry Export
The first large-scale defense export contract since the new government took office has been confirmed.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced that the Polish Minister of Defense officially announced on the 2nd that negotiations for the second K2 tank export contract with Hyundai Rotem had been completed and that the contract would be signed within a short period of time.
The specific contract size will be disclosed later, and the contract signing ceremony will be held with high-ranking government officials from both countries in attendance.
In 2022, Poland signed a comprehensive agreement with our defense industry to urgently respond to the rapidly increasing security level. In addition, in the same year, the first implementation contract was signed for four types of weapon systems, including the K2 tank, K9 self-propelled howitzer, FA-50, and Chunmoo, and the second implementation contract for the K9 self-propelled howitzer and Chunmoo was also sequentially signed.
These large-scale defense industry export contracts with Poland and their rapid implementation became an opportunity for the world to pay full attention to K-defense.
It was originally expected that the second implementation contract for the K2 tank would be signed around the same time as other weapon systems that signed the second implementation contract, but the scope of the project was expanded and the contract size was increased as it included the development of the Polish K2 tank (K2PL) and local production, so the contract signing was finalized on this day.
This second K2 tank implementation contract is evaluated as the result of the combined efforts of all relevant ministries and agencies, including the defense industry, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Army, as well as the defense industry, working as a single team.
The government promised active technology transfer and military cooperation as new governments were launched in both countries, and secured Poland’s strong trust through various policy support such as defense industry export financing.
Unlike the first contract, which exported finished K2 tanks produced domestically, this second contract will develop and deliver K2PLs that meet the performance requirements of the Polish military along with domestically produced K2 tanks.
Starting with the second contract, Hyundai Rotem and Polish defense industry will also build a K2 tank production facility to assemble a significant quantity locally.
The establishment of this local production base is even more significant in that it increases the possibility of executing follow-up contracts for the remaining 1,000 K2 tanks included in the general contract.
In addition, this contract is also significant in that it is a defense industry cooperation model that is in line with the ‘European Rearmament Plan’ announced by the European Union (EU) in March.
Based on the excellent performance and production competitiveness that are the strengths of K-defense industry, this export contract, which combines customized improvements and local production desired by the other country, is expected to become a new momentum for defense industry exports not only for individual European countries but also at the NATO level.
Seok Jong-geon, the head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, emphasized that “this second K2 tank export contract is the result of the efforts of the public, private, and military sectors working together to keep the crucible of defense industry exports from cooling down even in difficult circumstances,” and added that “this second K2 tank export contract is an opportunity to confirm that Korea-Poland defense industry cooperation will continue strongly, and we will do our best to support the K2 tank so that it can be responsible for the security of not only Korea but also Europe in the future.”
[Editor Lee]
