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| US Agrees To Sell 116 Units M1A1 Abrams Tanks To Poland |
Washington - The United States Department of State (US) has approved the potential sale of 116 General Dynamics M1A1 Abrams tanks, other vehicles and ammunition to Poland in a deal worth up to $3.75 billion. As Reuters reports, the sale comes just months after Poland was authorized to buy 250 M1A2 tanks by the same manufacturer.
With this new option, Poland can choose to purchase a mix of the two tank versions. Poland is trying to modernize its military and adjust to new geopolitical realities, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Not only Poland, a number of other European countries also took similar steps. “The package will include vehicles for recovering damaged tanks, eight assault bridges and other vehicles. It will also provide thousands of advanced munitions including armor-piercing ammunition, reserves and technical support," the Pentagon statement said.
Although approved by the Department of State, the notification does not indicate that the contract has been signed or that negotiations have concluded. Previously, Germany had offered Warsaw a Patriot missile defense system to help it secure its airspace.
The offer was made after a stray missile crashed in Poland last month. NATO has concluded that the stray missile that killed two people in Poland was fired by a Ukrainian air defense system in response to a massive missile attack from Russia.
The German offer was made by Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht. The German government, Lambrecht said, had said it would offer its neighbor further assistance in aerial surveillance with Eurofighters after the stray missile incident, which initially raised fears that the war in Ukraine could spill over across the border.
"We have offered Polish support in securing airspace with our Eurofighters and with the Patriot air defense system," Lambrecht told the Rheinische Post and General Anzeiger newspapers Sunday, which was reported by Reuters, Monday (21/11/2022).
Ground-based air defense systems such as the United States' Raytheon Patriot are built to intercept incoming missiles. NATO has been moving to strengthen air defenses in eastern Europe since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February. More than a dozen NATO allies led by Germany in October began an initiative to jointly acquire air defense systems for multiple threat layers, including the Patriot.