Technically, it’s called live fire. And it is a realistic scenario of war for the use of specific equipment. In the case of Poland, January is the month of the field test of the American-made Abrams tanks that Warsaw wants to make available to its army. In recent weeks, soldiers from the 1st Battalion 35th Armored Regiment based at Fort Bliss, Texas, have been preparing with a series of tabletop exercises aimed at skill on the M1A2 Abrams together with Polish counterparts.
In recent years, Warsaw has made a rush to buy weapons to modernize its armed forces. These efforts have intensified since Russia invaded Ukraine. For the Polish Army, the Abrams tank represents the ultimate in modernization. Poland received the first of its tanks in 2023. And in the coming years, it plans to incorporate 366 of them. Polish officials have announced that a tank maintenance and service center will be set up in Poznan, which is home to the first permanent U.S. Army base in the country.
U.S. soldiers stationed at the Polish base in Nowa Deba are working with a platoon that was among the first in Poland to use the American tank, first the M1A1 and now the more advanced M1A2. Troops focus on what it takes to get the most out of the Abrams’ firepower. The military studied the mechanics of the tank, ranging from the disassembly and assembly of weapons to artillery-related skills.
Last December, an unarmed Russian Kh-55 cruise missile was launched from Belarus and crossed about 500 kilometers of Polish territory before landing in a forest and being discovered months later by a passer-by not far from the city of Bydgoszcz in central Poland. The equipping of Abrams tanks, for Warsaw, is a clear signal to Russia.