When announced Anand said she expected a staggered delivery of the systems between late 2023 and sometime in 2024 but there is no firm schedule.Ī plan to fast-track military equipment purchases, announced by Defence Minister Anita Anand in March, still doesn't have a timeline. Ottawa still has no firm timeline for a plan - announced in March by Defence Minister Anita Anand - to fast-track on an 'urgent operational basis' the purchase of portable anti-tank missiles, uncrewed counter-drone systems and ground-based air defence systems for troops in Latvia. The speed of Poland's procurement project stands in stark contrast to the pace of military procurement in Canada.

'We decided to do it as quickly as possible because we are the front country,' said Tomasz Grodzki, speaker of Poland's Senate, in a recent interview with CBC News. It is a massive rearmament program, driven partly by Poland's need to replenish stocks of equipment donated to Ukraine and partly by the fear of what might come next should Russia succeed in toppling the government in Kyiv.

Eventually, Poland intends to buy up to 1,000 of the South Korean tanks, 688 of the howitzers and 48 FA-50 jet fighters, which can be used as trainers and light combat aircraft. South Korea plans to deliver to Poland 180 K2 tanks, 212 K9 howitzers and 288 K239 Chunmoo K-MLRS (Korean Multiple Launch Rocket System) similar to the American-built HIMARS system, which has proven critical to Ukraine's defence in its war with Russia.Īnd that's only the tip of the iceberg.

A worker puts a Polish flag on a South Korean Black Panther K2 tank in the Polish Navy port of Gdynia, Poland on Dec.

Buying military tanks