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US Congress OKs sale of 250 Abrams tanks to Poland: defence minister

07.03.2022 11:00
The US Congress has cleared the sale of 250 modern Abrams tanks to Poland, the Polish defence minister has announced amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
A US-made Abrams tank.
A US-made Abrams tank. Twitter/Mariusz Błaszczak

“The Polish Army is getting stronger: The US Congress has approved the sale of 250 Abrams tanks to Poland," Mariusz Błaszczak said on Saturday.

"This is the last important step before a contract is signed for their purchase," he added.

He described the expected deal as "the most important defence contract" for Poland "in years.

The Polish defence ministry said in a tweet that the deal would be finalized "soon."

The announcement came after Błaszczak last month said that the US State Department "approved the sale of 250 Abrams tanks, in the most modern M1A2 SEPv3 version."

Warsaw signalled its intention to buy 250 American tanks last year.

In 2020, Poland signed a USD 4.6 billion deal to buy 32 F-35A combat aircraft from the United States.

In February 2019, Poland's government signed a deal to buy 20 HIMARS artillery rocket systems from America for USD 414 million as part of a military modernisation drive.

Poland in March 2019 signed what officials described as a historic deal to buy an American Patriot air defence system for USD 4.75 billion.

Poland is expected to increase defence spending to 3 percent of GDP under a new homeland defence bill being considered by parliament, officials have said.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP