Key Points – Poland’s massive July 2022 arms deal with South Korea for K2 Black Panther tanks, K9 Thunder howitzers, and FA-50 fighter jets underscores a significant European rearmament trend following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and highlights South Korea’s emergence as a major global defense exporter.
-The K2 Black Panther main battle tank features advanced capabilities such as a hydropneumatic suspension allowing it to “lean,” NATO-standard 120mm ammunition compatibility, and the unique KSTAM-II smart top-attack munition.
-The comprehensive agreement also includes technology transfer and local Polish production of these systems, reflecting a strategic diversification in Poland’s defense procurement.
Poland Goes All in on the K2 Black Panther Tank
The K2 Black Panther is the front-line main battle tank developed by South Korea. It builds upon earlier South Korean tank design, which relied heavily on American research into tank design.
By combining a robust armor package, interoperability with NATO-standard 120mm main gun ammunition, and several features unique to the K2, the Black Panther has proven to be a successful export for Seoul.
Aside from South Korea, Poland operates hundreds of K2s — thanks in large part to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022. In order to protect itself better, Poland decided to invest heavily in K2 as part of a defense deal between the two countries.
“The deal, signed 22 July, will see up to 1,000 Hyundai Rotem K2 Black Panther main battle tanks, 672 Hanwha Defense K9 Thunder 155 mm self-propelled artillery and 48 Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) FA-50 Fighting Eagle light fighter ground-attack aircraft acquired in stages that include technology transfer and local production,” the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a leading defense and security think tank, explained.
“Initial batches,” IISS said, “of 180 K2s, 48 K9s and 12 FA-50s will be standard production versions and deliveries should begin this year. Polish versions will then be developed with production of the K2PL, K9PL and FA-50PL beginning in 2026, 2024 and 2025 respectively. Whilst all FA-50PLs will be built in South Korea, Polish production of the K2PL and K9PL will begin in 2026. Joint development of follow-on tank and howitzer systems is also planned.”
The K2 Black Panther Main Battle Tank
Compared to other main battle tanks, one of the K2’s most unique features is its hydropneumatic suspension, which gives the Black Panther the ability to “lean” forward and back, as well as side to side.
While this is undoubtedly a boon to capabilities off-road, it also offers advantages in a variety of dug-in tank positions or less-than-ideal static positions.
Part of the K2’s appeal to customers outside of Asia is the foot taken to ensure the tank is compatible with NATO logistics and supply chain, with particular regard to 120mm ammunition for the tank’s main gun. But the K2 also offers operators a specialized Korean munition: KSTAM-II, an abbreviation for Korean Smart Top-Attack Munition.
KSTAM-II strikes targets from above, a top-attack type of munition that strikes where armor protection is generally weakest. There are some analogs of this kind of weapon, Germany’s SMArt 155mm artillery round being one example.
However, integrating this capability into a highly mobile platform, such as a main battle tank, offers a greater degree of operational flexibility.
One significant divergence from the design of many Western main battle tanks is the K2’s three-man crew, which opts for an autoloader in place of a fourth crew member, typically tasked with loading the tank’s main gun.
Although a more modest crew does afford the K2 a lower curb weight and smaller profile, the increased workload placed on a smaller crew during tasks such as routine maintenance and field repair could be a potential drawback, depending on the extent of the work to be done.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
The South Korean-Polish agreement for K2s was initially penned in 2020, though the war in Ukraine has given the pact fresh impetus.
In 2022, however, a Polish politician wrote about the pact on Twitter. In the post, Mariusz Błaszczak explained that Warsaw and Hyundai Rotem, the South Korean defense firm behind the K2, designed for “the joint development of tanks and armored personnel carriers.” Błaszczak also characterized the deal in a positive light, calling it “an important step for the development of the army and industry.” Poland also operates over one hundred K-9s, a South Korean self-propelled howitzer.
The Korean Component to the Ukraine War
The Korean aspect of the war in Ukraine has been one of both perplexity and geopolitical horse-trading.
In some respects, the involvement of the two Korean rivals gives the war in Ukraine an even greater worldwide scope, lending some credence to the line of argumentation that says we are living in the midst of a war of global proportions, if not explicitly the next world war.
Reports that Pyongyang is preparing fresh troops to send to Russia in support of the Russian campaign in Kursk, adding around 3,000 new soldiers to the approximately 11,000 North Korean soldiers already fighting Ukrainian forces. North Korean soldiers have reportedly been pushed through some of the most intense fighting in the war in Ukraine and have suffered extensive losses.
In one of the war in Ukraine’s more surprising developments, North Korea managed to export one million artillery shells to Russia months before Ukraine’s allies in Europe were able to do so.
Although North Korea’s shells may be qualitatively inferior to those produced for Ukraine by the United States, Germany, Poland, or other countries, one perhaps apocryphal quote supposedly attributed to Joseph Stalin explains the importance of mass in warfare: “Quantity has a quality of its own.”
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
Fighter Jet Fails
Russia’s Su-57 Felon Stealth Fighter Is a Waste of Rubles
Pingback: K2 Black Panther: The Tank Built to Fight North Korea in a War - National Security Journal