Polish Army Receives New Batch of Enhanced Abrams Tanks: How Will It Help Ukraine?

A new batch of 38 M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams main battle tanks has been delivered to the Polish Army, placing the service on track to become the largest foreign operator of the American tank class as its only foreign operator with NATO. The tanks were ordered in April 2022 under a $4.8 billion contract, with the latest batch being the third to have been delivered. This followed a prior order for 116 less capable second hand M1A1 tanks, the final batch of which was delivered in July 2024, just 13 months after the first tanks arrived in the country on June 28, 2023. Compared to the M1A1, the M1A2 SEPv3 has thicker turret and hull front armour, is easier to maintain, and boasts an increased power generation and distribution capacity and superior network centric warfare capabilities, while also being compatible with the new M829A4 kinetic energy anti-tank round. The previous batch of M1A2 SEPv3 tanks was delivered in May 2025,

Rapid procurements of Abrams tanks, and parallel procurements of even greater numbers of South Korean K2 tanks, has allowed the Polish Army to retire its prior inventories German Leopard 2 and SovietT-72 and PT-71 tanks, with these tanks being delivered to Ukraine in significant numbers. The number of T-72s supplied by Poland is estimated to be approaching 350, with these deliveries, and the rapid losses of Ukraine’s more complex T-64 tanks, leading the T-72 to quickly emerge as the backbone of its fleet. Although the United States has also delivered Abrams tanks to Ukraine, theirperformance under combat conditions has been reflected on poorly by Ukrainian crews, who have complained of technical issues including vulnerability of electronic components to condensation, as well as the tank’s demonstrated vulnerability in combat. The tanks saw their first engagements with Russian forces in February 2024, taking heavy losses including to drones, anti tank missiles and the guns of T-72 tanks. The Ukrainian Army was assessed in June 2025 to have lost 87 percent of the American sourced vehicles it had received.