Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki revealed Poland’s ambition to produce depleted uranium rounds for U.S. Abrams tanks during a three-day visit to the United States. During his second-day stop in Alabama, Morawiecki paid a visit to the ANAD Anniston Army Depot.
“We have been making efforts to locate in Poland the manufacturing of core rounds for Abrams tanks, cores made of depleted uranium, state-of-the-art ammunition,”
the prime minister said.
Depleted uranium, an extremely dense material, is used in anti-tank ammunition and can have devastating effects on armoured vehicles.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has announced that the country will be receiving 14 Abrams tanks by June. This is part of a larger order of 250 brand-new M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams, and 116 modernised Abrams that were previously used by the US Marine Corps. This will replace Poland’s Soviet-era vehicles that were sent to Ukraine.
According to the prime minister, the equipment will form “an armour curtain that will protect the eastern regions of Poland.”
“We’re also convinced that alongside this armour curtain, American businesses will also come,” he said, adding that he had talked to US military officials and the depot’s management about the possibility of “locating plants in Poland that will maintain and repair Abrams tanks in Europe.”
Poland stepped up its armament purchases after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to warn that Russia is a threat to not only Ukraine, but to the entire world. Citing the famous words of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, Morawiecki described Russia as a “reborn Evil Empire”. Reagan initially coined the phrase in 1983 while referring to the Soviet Union.
“The Evil Empire has been reborn in the East,” Morawiecki said. “Russian barbarians threaten not only Ukraine. They threaten all of Europe and the whole free world.”
He went on to suggest that Vladimir Putin’s plans were not just focused on Ukraine.
“Putin has been building his Evil Empire for 23 years, in preparation for this conflict,” he wrote. “New Europe understands this. It is time that Old Europe understood it too.”
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has warned Western European governments of the dangers of relying too heavily on Russian fossil fuels, which has caused a current energy crisis. He has urged them to act realistically when it comes to forming contacts with Moscow