Poland wants to join the European Main Battle Tank project

PT-91

Poland has a major issue regarding its main battle tanks. Besides 250 Leopard 2A4 and 2A5 tanks acquired from the German military, it has about 500 T-72 and PT-91 (Polish tank based on T-72) tanks that need to be replaced ASAP. It is no longer economically feasible to upgrade them. 

“Poland’s defense industry had developed a tank prototype, the Anders, but it became clear to Polish officials that it made more sense to join a European programme.” - DefenseNews.com

The best alternative for Poland is to join the European Main Battle Tank project. There is a minor problem with that idea though. Neither Germany nor France wants Poland in the program. They would rather sell those tanks to them. (That’s how those countries interpret the cooperation in the EU.) 

Poland sees that differently. Since they plan to acquire more tanks than Germany and France together, they feel that they have the right to play some role in the project. Poland also wants the project to operate under the Permanent Structured Cooperation initiative, or PESCO, a framework established by the EU to allow its member states to engage in joint projects related to military cooperation. Which would also mean that Polish industry, whether Germans and French like it or not, would also be involved and benefit from it. 

While the talks on the subject continue Poland has come up with some interesting and low cost upgrades for their aging tanks. One of them is a laser guided ammunition with 5000 meters range.

DefenseNews.com has an interesting article on the subject titled: Poland’s search for new European tanks is contagious.