The Polish Army sixteenth Mechanised Division on December 16 introduced the handover of the ultimate 12 K9A1 Thunder self-propelled howitzers to its 1st Masurian Artillery Brigade, finishing deliveries beneath the primary government contract for the procurement of 212 of the methods from South Korea. A $2.4 billion contract was signed for the procurement of those methods on August 26, 2022, and included together with ammunition, logistics help, coaching packages, and simulator-based coaching for Polish personnel. Poland that 12 months emerged as by far the main shopper for South Korean armaments, fuelling hypothesis that the East Asian state may emerge because the world’s second largest defence exporter to problem Russia’s longstanding place. South Korea has been prized as a provider not solely as a result of typically superior capabilities of its tools in comparison with Western options, but in addition due to its a lot better productive capacities, permitting it to produce armaments rapidly.
South Korea business was capable of expedite the supply of the primary 48 K9 howitzers by drawing them from Republic of Korea Army shares, after which they have been modernised to the K9A1 normal and delivered to the Polish Army. Exterior loans lined roughly 70 p.c of the general prices related to Polish defence procurements from South Korea in 2022, with different main acquisitions includingK2 predominant battle tanks, FA-50 light-weight fighter plane, and Chunmoo rocket artillery and ballistic missile methods, making Poland by far the biggest international person of armaments from the East Asian state. Deliveries of recent howitzers and tanks particularly has performed a key function in permitting Poland to retire older tools, reminiscent of T-72, PT-91 and Leopard 2A4 tanks, which have been quickly donated to the Ukrainian Army. The big scale involvement of Polish contractor items within the battle has fuelled hypothesis that this retired tools could also be being utilized by Polish personnel to interact Russian forces.
K9 howitzers have been distributed throughout a number of formations, with the primary 72 K9s which had been delivered by June 2024 serving throughout three battalions, particularly the first Masurian Artillery Brigade, the twenty first Podhale Rifles Brigade, and the 18th Artillery Regiment. South Korean business has considerably expanded manufacturing charges of each the K9 and the K2 tank particularly to satisfy Polish demand, though the variety of different shoppers putting smaller orders for the methods has additionally grown quickly. Deliveries of K2s in 2025 have been thus triple what they have been the earlier 12 months, with 96 tanks reaching the Polish Army to finish an order for 180 of the autos, permitting a contract for 180 extra to be finalised in July. As a defence exporter, South Korea has been a number one beneficiary of the outbreak of full scale warfare between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, as Western defence producers have been unable to compete with the capabilities and supply schedules of its tools.
The K9 has been notably in style in Europe, and just lately emerged as a frontrunner for the Swedish Defence Ministry’s choice of a brand new artillery system, whereas Romania has the methods on order, and Finland, Norway, Poland, Turkey, and Estonia already subject them. The system’s automated shell dealing with and ramming system, charge of fireside of six shells per minute, and its capacity to fireplace on totally different trajectories in brief succession, set it aside from most rival methods. The improved K9A1 variant has enhanced hearth controls and pc working methods, permitting the system to fireplace with out operating its predominant engine for decreased gas consumption, decreased upkeep wants, and a better diploma of precision utilizing each INS and GPS steerage. New prolonged vary ammunition has additionally improved the system’s engagement vary to 54 kilometres. The rival German Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000), against this, faces longer manufacturing timelines, and has suffered from very critical efficiency points when deployed by the Ukrainian Army, together with displaying important “put on and tear,” and breaking down quickly after only a month of fight use.
