Dozens of Korean-made K2 tanks and K9 howitzers arrive in Poland

Poland has received its last batch of South Korean K9 self-propelled howitzers and K2 tanks for this year, Poland’s Armament Agency said on November 9.

Several dozen K9 Thunder howitzers and K2 Black Panther tanks were being unloaded after arriving in the country, the agency said in a post on social media.

The vehicles were bought under two contracts signed on December 1, 2023, and August 1, 2025. The agency said the equipment will join operational units on Poland’s eastern flank within days, adding firepower to the 16th Mechanized Division.

The 16th Mechanized Division is based in northeastern Poland, an area that borders Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave and lies close to the Suwałki Gap, the narrow strip of land between Kaliningrad and Belarus that links Poland with the Baltic states. The region is one of the most closely watched parts of NATO’s eastern flank.

The December 2023 contract covers 152 K9 howitzers made by Hanwha Aerospace and was worth about $2.6 billion, Defense News reported. The K9 is a tracked 155 mm (6.1-inch) gun that can fire on the move between positions and is used by several NATO and partner militaries, including Finland, Norway and Estonia. Poland’s later K9s include a localized K9PL version adapted to Polish equipment.

The August 2025 deal was Poland’s second executive contract for K2 tanks, covering 180 vehicles built by Hyundai Rotem, including 64 of the upgraded K2PL variant to be produced in Poland, in a deal valued at about $6.5 billion. Deliveries under that contract have already begun, after Poland received its first K2 tanks from the new $6.5 billion deal.

The K2 is a 55-ton main battle tank armed with a 120 mm (4.7-inch) smoothbore gun and an autoloader, which lets it fire without a dedicated loader in the crew. Poland began buying it in 2022, when Warsaw signed framework agreements with South Korea for up to 1,000 K2 tanks, 672 K9 howitzers and 288 Chunmoo rocket launchers to replace Soviet-era equipment, much of which it had sent to Ukraine. The first executive contracts that year included 180 K2s and 212 K9s, and the first South Korean howitzers and tanks rolled out for Poland just months later.

The equipment is part of one of the largest military buildups in Europe. Poland plans to spend about 4.8% of its GDP on defense in 2026, among the highest levels in NATO, and is expanding its army to field more armored and artillery units along its eastern border.

Deliveries are set to continue next year, with the first Polish-built K2PL tanks expected to come from the Bumar-Łabędy plant in Gliwice later in the decade.