Abrams for Poland - a good idea?

From time to time, the idea of ​​acquiring M1 Abrams tanks from surplus equipment of the US Armed Forces returns to the Polish armored units. Recently, it was again considered in the context of the need to quickly strengthen the potential of the Polish Armed Forces for the so-called. east wall. In the photo, the M1A1 tank of the US Marine Corps.

For almost two decades, the topic of acquiring the M1 Abrams MBT by the Polish armed forces from the surplus of the US Army has returned regularly. In recent weeks, information has emerged, unofficial of course, that politicians are once again considering such a possibility. So let's analyze the disadvantages.

According to the Arms Inspectorate, the purchase of M1 Abrams tanks, in combination with their modernization to one of the available models, is one of the options being considered as part of the analytical and conceptual stage implemented under the New Main Tank program. codenamed Wilk. During the technical dialogue between mid-2017 and early 2019, IU staff met with representatives of various companies and institutions that may be involved in the implementation of this program. Negotiations were held with: Ośrodek Badawczo-Rozwojowe Urządzeń Mechanicznych “OBRUM” Sp. z oo, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG (the German co-manufacturer of the Leopard 2 was to be represented by Wojskowe Zakłady Mechaniczne SA from Poznań), Rheinmetall Defense (represented by the Polish branch of Rheinmetall Defense Polska Sp. Z oo), Hyundai Rotem Co Ltd. (represented by H Cegielski Poznań SA), BAE Systems Hägglunds AB, General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) and the US Army. The last two points will be of interest to us, since the US Army may be responsible for the transfer of vehicles from its excess equipment, and GDELS is the European branch of the manufacturer Abrams - General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS). This information was partially confirmed in an interview by Zbigniew Griglas, Deputy Secretary of State at the Ministry of State Property, who oversees the Department of Supervision III, which is responsible for the defense industry. He stated that among the options for the purchase of new tanks for the armored and mechanized troops of the Ground Forces are: the Turkish Altay, the South Korean K2 (he probably meant the “Central European” version of the K2PL / CZ, which has been promoted for several years - in fact this is a new tank), the American "Abrams" and the car, called by Minister Griglas "Italian tank" (Italy offered several countries, including Poland, the joint development of a new generation of MBT). Interestingly, he did not mention the Franco-German (with a British observer) Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) program.

According to supporters of the Abrams purchase, these vehicles were supposed to replace the obsolete T-72M/M1 (even M1R upgraded to the M91R standard have little combat value), and in the future, somewhat more modern PT-XNUMX.

However, the purpose of this article is not to discuss the meanders of the Wilk program, so we will not delve into these issues too much. The new tanks were primarily to replace the obsolete T-72M/M1/M1R and PT-91 Twardy, and in the future, more modern, but also aged Leopard 2PL/A5. According to analyzes carried out during the preparation of the Strategic Defense Review 2016, Poland should purchase about 800 new generation tanks from around 2030, with members of the then leadership of the Ministry of National Defense indicating that it would be desirable to purchase a "small number" of tanks of the current generations are slightly faster. This may become necessary in the conditions of a very poor technical condition of the parts planned for overhaul and modification of the T-72M / M1 tanks. Unofficially, they say that out of 318 cars that were originally intended for work, about a hundred may not be profitable. Thus, there is a gap in technology for two tank battalions. Abrams "from the wilderness" filled him up?

Abrams for Poland

One of the options taken into account to “patch” the hardware gap before the introduction of the Wilk tank could be the purchase of former American M1 Abrams tanks (most likely in the M1A1 version or a little newer, since they prevail in equipment depots) and their subsequent upgrade to one of the options currently used by the US Army. Versions of the M1A1M, M1A1SA, or a variant based on the M1A2 (such as the Moroccan or Saudi export M1A2M or M1A2S) are really at stake. The M1A2X is also possible, since for some time a vehicle destined for Taiwan (now M1A2T) was marked, which is supposedly the equivalent of the latest M1A2C (also under the designation M1A2 SEP v.3). The most likely scenario if this option is chosen, perhaps even the only possible one, would be the purchase of former American tanks from the surplus of the American army or the US Marine Corps (hundreds of vehicles are stored in huge yards of equipment depots, such as the Sierra Army Depot) and their subsequent modernization at the Joint Systems Factory Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio, owned by the US government and currently operated by GDLS. The US Army and the US National Guard intend to have about 4000 M1A1 and M1A2 tanks of various modifications in service, of which 1392 vehicles will remain in the armored brigade combat group (ABST) (870 in ten US Army ABSTs and 522 vehicles). in six ABCTs of the US National Guard) - the rest are used for training, mothballed in warehouses scattered around the world, etc. These tanks, for obvious reasons, are not put up for sale - in 1980-1995, the US Armed Forces received, according to various sources, from 8100 to even 9300 M1 tanks of all modifications, of which more than 1000 were exported. It follows that there are probably three to four thousand pieces in American warehouses, some of which, however, are the oldest version of the M1 with the 105-mm M68A1 gun. The most valuable are the M1A1FEPs, of which about 400 have remained "roaming" since the Marine Corps abandoned armored units (see WiT 12/2020) - the US Marine Corps armored battalions will be decommissioned before the end of the year. So you can really buy only M1A1 in different modifications. Now let's look at Abrams himself.