{"id":59450,"date":"2019-08-27T17:18:19","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T17:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/08\/27\/polands-search-for-new-european-tanks-is-contagious\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:24:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:24:22","slug":"polands-search-for-new-european-tanks-is-contagious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2019\/08\/27\/polands-search-for-new-european-tanks-is-contagious\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland\u2019s search for new European tanks is contagious"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WARSAW, Poland \u2014 Poland\u2019s new desire to join the European Main Battle Tank project, an initiative spearheaded by the Franco-German tandem, is part of a larger regional trend under which numerous Eastern European allies are pursuing plans to acquire new vehicles and replace their Soviet-designed tracked and wheeled rides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following an Aug. 16 meeting between Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak and his German counterpart, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the Polish leader said the country wants to join the European tank program, adding it could \u201cbe a good solution for the Polish defense industry\u201d and \u201cbeneficial if this initiative were to be accelerated and it became a PESCO project” strengthened by European Union funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Permanent Structured Cooperation initiative, or PESCO, is a framework established by the EU in 2017 to allow its member states to engage in joint projects related to military cooperation. In March 2018, the Council of the European Union adopted an initial list of projects for development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An updated version of the list released in November 2018 includes, among others, a project to build a prototype European armored infantry fighting vehicle that could serve as the basis of an amphibious assault vehicle and a light armored vehicle. The participating member states include Italy, Greece and Slovakia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany and France, alongside other countries, are already collaborating to develop a European medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft under the Eurodrone project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local observers say that while the Polish land forces operate about 247 Leopard 2A4 and 2A5 tanks acquired from the German military, the country\u2019s armed forces urgently need to procure new gear to replace its Soviet-designed tanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\t