U.S. Army M1A2 Abrams tank models have performed intensively coaching on the Bemowo Piskie Coaching Space in Poland, with crews manoeuvring a minimum of one of many autos by way of a water impediment and dirt fields. Tanks had been delivered from a number of areas throughout Poland to participate within the Ahead Land Forces growth train, with the Polish Armed Forces aiding within the coordination of rail transfers and managing of the coaching website. Workout routines had been designed to rehearse mobility, sustainment, and positioning of heavy armour in Jap Europe, simulated chilly, mud-heavy terrain, and unpredictable temperature modifications, that are frequent within the autumn and winter, and which might make it notably troublesome to function tanks. Poland is one among simply three overseas international locations to host everlasting overseas deployments of U.S. Army tank models, alongside Germany and South Korea, with the M1A2 SEPv2 variant being stationed there.
The Abrams is one among two tank sorts alongside the Russian T-80 to make use of a gasoline turbine engine, which gives increased mobility notably in muddy terrain. The T-80’s mobility has been notably highlighted for its significance throughout winter fight, particularly when in comparison with the Ukrainain Army’s German-supplied Leopard tanks which have reportedly been vulnerable to changing into caught within the winter mud. Though the Abrams is a a lot heavier car than the T-80 with a considerably decrease energy/weight ratio, it’s anticipated to carry out a lot better below such circumstances than different Western tank sorts. Alongside the U.S. Army, the Polish Army is the one operator of the Abrams in Europe, and obtained the final of 116 ex-U.S. Marine CorpsM1A1 tanks in July 2024, earlier than receiving the primary M1A2 SEPv3 tanks in Could 2025.
Abrams procurements by Poland and workout routines by the U.S. Army happen within the context of ongoing warfare in neighbouring Ukraine, through which U.S. and Polish forces are closely concerned. This has included the deployment of contractor personnel organisations such because the U.S. Ahead Remark Group and the Polish Volunteer Corps for frontline fight operations, in addition to lively obligation personnel serving in a variety of roles from intelligence to logistics. The constraints of European floor forces has made the presence of U.S. Army models in Europe, even in restricted numbers, crucial to making sure that NATO’s ahead posture towards Russia is just not excessively reliant on air energy, notably as a result of chance that Russia’s superior air defence community and skill to strike airbases throughout Europe may restrict its utility.
Questions have repeatedly been raised relating to the viability of the Abrams tank in trendy warfare, with the tanks delivered by the US as help to the Ukrainain Army having taken very heavy losses virtually instantly after being deployed for fight. By early June 2025 the Ukrainian Army was assessed to have misplaced 87 % of the autos , with 27 of the 31 tanks destroyed or captured. The tank’s underperformance in a number of areas was thought-about a significant factor main the U.S. Army to terminate plans to develop a brand new variant of the M1A2 design, and as a substitute search to develop its most revolutionary new tank in near half a century below the M1E3 program. Its solely completely different design priorities that depart it virtually unrecognisable from prior Abrams variants, and shut to twenty tons lighter. It is a results of the perceived inadequacy of standard Western tank designs for contemporary warfare, with the M1E3 adopting many frequent design options to China’s new Sort 100 unveiled in September 2025.
