Poland places order for mine-laying systems, mines

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Poland placed an order for mine-laying vehicles and thousands of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines for the country’s army, which has been undergoing significant expansion and re-armament in recent years, local media said on Wednesday night.

The Polish army will receive 24 Baobab-K automated mine-laying systems, worth 510 million Polish zloty ($123 million), which will be delivered between 2026 and 2028, state news agency PAP announced.

The country also ordered over 10,000 sets of scatterable mines, more than 6,000 sets of anti-tank mines, and several hundred sets of practice mines, worth 566 million Polish zloty ($137 million), whose delivery will start this year.

Both vehicles and mines will be produced by the state-run Polish Armaments Group (PGZ).

Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak maintained that the order is an important part of their policy of deterring the aggressor and defending Poland.

He added: “The Polish Army is getting ever stronger thanks to growing troop numbers and modern weapons.”

Last April, Poland signed a contract worth nearly $4.75 billion to buy 250 MA12 SEP battle tanks from the US following a December 2020 agreement with Washington for 32 F-35 jets.

Poland also agreed to a contract with the US on the purchase of 116 more used M1Abrams tanks.

Last June, Polish government announced that it is on course to establish new land forces units and purchase modern weapons, including Patriot air defense systems, F-35 fighter jets, M1A2 Abrams tanks and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) from the US, Bayraktar armed drones from Türkiye, and K2 Black Panther tank and rocket systems from South Korea.