WARSAW (Reuters) – A service centre for U.S.-made Abrams tanks will be opened in the western Polish city of Poznan, arms producer Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) said on Monday, as the NATO member boosts its military due to the war in Ukraine.
Warsaw has vowed to double the size of its army and spend 4% of GDP on defence in 2023.
It has ordered 250 state-of-the-art Abrams battle tanks in addition to 116 modernised ones.
An agreement for the creation of the centre was signed on Monday by PGZ and U.S. tank producer General Dynamics Land Systems, PGZ said.
“As a trustworthy partner for the army, we are responsible for supporting units in maintaining the efficiency of each type of equipment that is used by the Polish Army or is starting to be used,” PGZ Chief Executive Sebastian Chwalek said in a statement.
State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin said on Twitter that the building of the service centre showed that “the Americans highly value Poland’s potential and our organisational skills.”
In April, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland aims to become the service centre for Abrams tanks in Europe.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish; editing by Jason Neely)
