Poland has donated its entire fleet of T-72 tanks to Ukraine

WARSAW, POLAND — Poland is about to say goodbye to its entire land fleet of T-72 tanks. Or nearly all, as far as is known. And most likely, all the remaining available T-72 tanks of the Polish army inventory will end their existence for what they were produced for – for war.

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260 tanks were donated by Warsaw to Ukraine throughout 2022. This Friday, February 3rd, the Prime Minister of Poland, Mr. Mateusz Morawiecki, announced that 30 more tanks will be sent to Ukraine. Thus, out of 301 known T-71s in Poland’s inventory, Ukraine will have received a total of 290 tanks. Most likely the 11 remaining tanks are either unserviceable or earmarked for spare parts.

Before the beginning of large-scale modernization in the Polish army, the T-72 was the most numerous tank in the country’s army. This tank was produced from the 1970s to the mid-1990s, with a total of over 20,000 units produced. They are used by many armies around the world, including Belarus, India, Iran, Russia, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Venezuela.

The tank is armed with a 125 mm smoothbore gun in various versions, a machine gun, an anti-aircraft machine gun, and smoke grenade launchers. These machines have been involved in numerous conflicts. These were, for example, the Iran-Iraq war and the Persian Gulf war of 1991. They are currently being used in Ukraine as well.

At the moment, the German Leopard 2 series and an additional series specially developed for Poland are bravely treading the mud in the Polish army. The number is 249 units. But Poland will not remain without tanks, on the contrary – the country will become the best-armed country in Europe with tank battalions.

1,000 K2 Black Panther tanks were ordered from Warsaw to Seoul, South Korea. The first ten have already arrived, and South Korea remains to deliver 180 units to this batch. After that, a second batch will follow with the delivery of a total of 820 K2 tanks, which will, however, be produced in Poland under license.

But to solidify its future tank dominance, Warsaw did not stop with the purchase of the K2 but ordered 250 Abrams tanks from the United States. The order to the US includes three versions of the tank – M1A2 SEPv3, M1A2 SEPv2, and M1A1 FEP.

The news that Warsaw is giving Kyiv 30 more T-72 tanks is more than good for the Ukrainian army. Although Ukraine has been promised dozens of Abrams, Leopards, and Challengers, the T-72 is Ukraine’s main battle tank and tank crews will be able to immediately begin their use in war without the need for additional training.

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