Twelve three-man crews began a peculiar course in mid-April for drivers, commanders and cannonal K2 Black Panther tanks, organized by 9 BKPanc. Battleships from Braniew for the first time do not usage the aid of instructors outside the brigade. shortly they will be training soldiers from another unit, to which the first Black Panthers have late reached.
– This is simply a large day for us, a large change – he said in November 2024 Brig-Gen Roman Brudło, Commander of the 9th Armored Cavalry Brigadewhen the first K2 Black Panther tanks They reached Braniewa. At the time, the Brańska brigade had already trained 8 crews (24 soldiers), which took a specialized course in the 20th Mechanized Brigade in Morag. Another training for drivers, commanders and gunmen K2 with 9 BKPanc. (12 crews) was organized in Braniewo in the first 4th of 2025. Then with the support of instructors from 20 BZ. Now the battleships of the 9th Brigade are self-sufficient in this respect.
According to earlier announcements by Hyundai Rotem, the K2 Black Panther tank manufacturer, The recruiting armadillos are provided with support Korean specialists. And while this initially meant their participation in training Polish soldiers, Koreans are now liable for technical, service and warranty support. At the same time, the K2 tank maker invites armadillos to join him for additional training. In July, 3 soldiers from Braniewa are going to Korea for this purpose.
9 BKPanc. has 3 tank battalions (two in Braniewo, 1 stationed in Elbląg), in which the PT-91 hard platforms inactive prevail. However, modern tanks from South Korea do not only control to battleships with experience gained on PT-91 or the russian T-72 platform (on its licence was created Polish Hardy). “Currently, we have more young soldiers on the course for whom K2 is the first tank,” says Colonel Marcin Jankowski, commander of 1st Tank Battalion 9 BKPanc. “We don’t mess with their heads, putting them in PT-91 first, but we train on a modern platform.”
An officer with many years of experience (he studied on T-55 before starting his service on T-72 and later on on PT-91) does not hide that Black Panthers are a brand fresh quality. – It's like moving from Trabant to Mercedes – Lt. Colonel Jankowski asks about comparing PT-91 to K2. – There is simply quite a few electronics that provides previously unavailable possibilities. Older soldiers after PT or even T-72 can appreciate this technological leap. In turn, young people, from a generation of cells and computers, can find themselves easier to find in all this – convinces the commander of the 1st Tank Battalion.
After first theoretical training, during which soldiers, among another things, learned about the construction of the tank, future drivers, gunman and commander K2 went to practice at a cross-country camp in Braniewo. Driving takes place day and after dark. The Black Panthers spend hours scattering mud fields, breaking through the bushes, beating sharp hills and depths. Each mile travelled brings them closer to the goal, i.e. successful completion of the course and departure to the ground to Orzysz, where in early July there will be the first combat shooting with cannon and rifle. And then another training tour begins.
From July to September, the recruiting instructors will train not only soldiers from their brigade, but besides 2 crews from 15 The Giant Mechanized Brigade. The Hangers received the first K2 Black Panther tanks in early May (as the last brigade of the 16th Mechanized Division). In total, the 3rd course of this year's 9 BKPanc. for K2 crews is to finish 42 soldiers. Others will be trained in the last 4th of 2025.
K2 Black Panther is simply a tank equipped with a smooth-bore 120 mm cannon, automatic charging strategy and integrated fire control system. The auxiliary weaponry of the 55-ton tank is simply a 7.62 mm device weapon and a large caliber device weapon (WKM) 12.7 mm. The South Korean tank has a 1500 hp diesel engine with automatic transmission, a hydropneumatic suspension strategy (ISU) and a dynamic track tension strategy (DTTS).
Korean tanks scope Poland from 2022 under an executive agreement, which assumes the transportation of 180 K2 platforms from 2022 to 2025. – Currently, the National Defence Ministry is negotiating the Implementing Agreement No. 2 for the acquisition of K2 tanks together with accompanying vehicles – informed Deputy Minister for Defence Paweł Bejda in April in consequence to a parliamentary interview. “The contract records include the acquisition of tanks in K2GF versions for the first batch and K2PL, whose chassis will at the same time be the base for accompanying cars, including method safety wagons, accompanying bridges and engineering wagons,” added the Deputy Chief of MON. The framework agreement of 2022 assumes that the Polish Army is yet to receive a 1000 K2 tanks and its colonized developmental version of K2PL.
