Interest in tanks rising in Eastern Europe, focus on Ukraine

In Warsaw, Poland, several Eastern European allies are looking to buy new tanks after years of neglect in this area, learning lessons from the war in Ukraine. German, South Korean, and American producers are competing for orders from countries like the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. Slovakia plans to acquire up to 104 new tanks to increase its land forces’ capabilities, and Germany recently donated 15 Leopard tanks to Slovakia. The Czech Republic is negotiating with Germany for joint acquisition of Leopard 2A8 tanks. Romania is gearing up to purchase M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams tanks from the U.S. worth about $2.53 billion. In April 2022, Poland signed a deal worth about $4.75 billion to buy M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams tanks and plans to acquire a total of 250 tanks. Romania is also considering purchasing South Korean K2 Black Panthers. Poland has shown a preference for American and South Korean tanks, but there may be future European tank projects with the announcement of a program to develop a new main battle tank for Europe in May 2024.