WARSAW, Poland - Negotiations regarding the sale of another batch of K2PL main battle tanks to the Polish Army have concluded and the sides will soon ink a contract, South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said in a statement this week.

"The government consistently demonstrated its strong commitment to technology transfer and military cooperation, earning Poland’s deep trust through various policy supports such as defense export financing," DAPA said in a press release. The agency declined to identify how many tanks will be sold to Poland under the new contract.

South Korean media has previously indicated that the two sides were negotiating over another batch of 180 K2 tanks.

Poland and Hyundai Rotem signed a contract in 2022 for the first batch of 180 tanks, which are being delivered from South Korean production lines. As of earlier this year, 133 tanks had been delivered under this initial contract. Negotiations for the second batch have centered on producing the tanks in Poland, which besides supplying the Polish Army could enable exports to other countries in Europe.

Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz noted this week that the K2PL could be marketed to Poland's neighbors, adding that he had held conversations with his Slovakian counterpart over a potential sale at last month's NATO summit in The Hague.

Source: Reuters
Associated URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/poland-completes-negotiations-buy-south-korean-k2-tanks-agency-says-2025-07-02/

MOSCOW, Russia - A subsidiary of Rostec has delivered a new batch of BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles to the Russian Army, the state arms conglomerate said in a statement published on Wednesday.

High Precision Systems, a holding company under Rostec, "supplies the troops with third-generation infantry fighting vehicles in full every month under existing contracts. All vehicles are equipped with additional protection equipment that ensures safety and reliability," Rostec stated. The statement added that the vehicles have undergone upgrades to account for the military's experience in Ukraine, adding new protective grills while improving mobility.

The statement did not indicate how many vehicles were delivered under this latest batch.

Russia has heavily utilized the BMP-3 as part of its ongoing war against Ukraine. Relying on open-source information, the Oryx blog has tallied over 700 Russian BMP-3s as having been destroyed, damaged, or captured since February 2022.

To replace battlefield losses, the Russian government has invested heavily in its defense industry, focusing in particular on armored vehicle, missile, and drone manufacturers. "We exponentially scaled up volumes in total across all types of weapons," Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov told the Federation Council this week.

Source: Interfax
Associated URL: https://www.militarynews.ru/story.asp?rid=1&nid=648572&lang=RU
Source Language: Russian

WASHINGTON -- In late June 2025, officials from the Irish government signed a multi-million euro contract with Thales DMS France for the acquisition of variable depth sonars (VDS) to be delivered by 2027 to the Naval Service.

The towed sonars, the first of their kind in Ireland, will be used on Irish Naval vessels to monitor activities in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and, in particular, in the vicinity of subsea communication cables or gas pipelines.

While the Irish Naval Service and Air Corps regularly monitor activity on Irish seas, this new acquisition is expected to significantly enhance awareness below the surface, contributing to the overall maritime picture available to the Naval Service and the wider Defence Forces. An enhanced maritime picture is also important for detecting illegal activities such as illegal fishing, drug trafficking, terrorism, and espionage.

Given the type of vessels currently in service with Ireland’s Naval Service (An tSeirbhís Chabhlaigh), the VDS being procured is likely the CAPTAS-1, which is available in a modular (containerized) form. It is anticipated that this new capability will be available to Ireland’s Naval Service in 2027.

Source: https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2025/07/ireland-procures-towed-array-sonars-from-thales/
Associated URL: Naval News