The Polish military has ordered 116 used M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks (MBTs) from the United States, defense minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced on July 15.
The contract was signed to strengthen the country’s land forces amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and compensate for original tank orders from the US yet to be delivered.
The purchase includes M1A1 Abrams units withdrawn from US Marine Corps service in 2020.
In an April 5 contract, the Polish Ministry of Defense purchased 250 M1A2 Abrams SEP V3 MBTs scheduled for completion by 2024 and delivery by 2025. The units will replace the country’s Soviet-made T-72 tanks donated to the Ukrainian armed forces.
The contract also included 26 M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicles and 17 M1074 Joint Assault Bridges.
M1A1 Abrams: Specifications
As of today, 4,976 and 221 M1A1 Abrams tanks have been manufactured for the US Army and US Marine Corps.
The M1A1 began deployment in 1991 as an upgrade over the 1980 M1.
The M1A1 is armed with a 120-millimeter smoothbore M256 gun manufactured by German Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH (RWM), powered by a Honeywell AGT 15,000 gas turbine engine, and equipped with an Allison X-1100-3B automatic transmission.
The tank can reach a top speed of 42 miles per hour and a maximum range of 265 miles.