Frag Out! Magazine

The first field training session involved a small number of vehicles, as the Armament Agency has only received 15 main battle tanks so far - all of them were assigned to the 1st Tank Battalion based in Mo- rąg and subordinated to the 20th „Bartoszycka" Mechanized Brigade. Another 13 K2 Black Panther MBTs are to be delivered to Poland by the end of the year. These would be received by the 9th Armoured Ca- valry Brigade based in Braniewo. This would be the second element that would receive the new main battle tank, within the framework of a baseline contract signed in August last year, covering the procure- ment of 180 K2 Black Panther tanks. The first field training exercise in Poland has also been an opportuni- ty to verify the skills of personnel who had been trained already. The publicly available information suggests that 8 crews (24 persons) underwent training, previously operating the T-72M main battle tanks of numerous types. As the soldiers themselves point out, this has been a major, qualitative leap for them. The new vehicles have been praised for their ergonomics, equipment, maneuverability, power out- put, and major combat potential. Another group of personnel whose training began in April will receive training on the Polish soil, with the use of the Polish tanks, and with support provided by the Kore- an experts. As the General Commander of the Polish Armed Forces, general Wiesław Kukuła, notes, the first K2 Black Panther battalions are to achieve combat readiness in 36 months from the first delive- ries. The vehicles are being delivered in a Polish configuration, inc- luding a Polish Communications Suite based on solutions designed for T-72M1R. Contrary to the K9A1 Thunder, all K2 Black Panthers are brand new, and they are coming straight off the Hyundai Rotem's factory line in the Republic of Korea. For that reason, and due to the safety procedu- res, the first live-fire test shots were taken by factory personnel, with the use of a portable, remote control panel. The goal of this proce- dure is to verify whether the tank is safe to operate for the crew. The first series of live fire tests in Orzysz included 3-5 rounds being fired BLACK PANTHER The crews trained in ROK praise the new vehicles for their performance or ergonomics. This should not be a surprise, as the new crews only have had experience with the T-72M vehicles so far. www.fragoutmag.com

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