Polish Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski announced on 7 January 2002 that his government would decide within the next ten days whether to accept a German offer of 130 mothballed Leopard tanks and a squadron of MiG-29s.
Germany originally offered Poland the tanks in mid-1999, for the cost of taking them out of mothballs. This was roughly one quarter to a fifth of the official price for a new tank (1.6 million-2 million Deutschemarks per unit).
The Gen. Stanislaw Maczek 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade would probably be issued the Leopard 2A4s. The brigade is subordinated to the Bundeswehr's 7th Tank Division as part of NATO's rapid reaction corps.
Berlin wants to unload the 22 MiGs inherited from East Germany in 1990, for free. Poland announced a requirement for 60 fighter jets in 2001, drawing offers from Lockheed Martin for F-16s, a consortium of BAE Systems and Saab for Gripens and France's Dassault for Mirages. The 1st 'Warsaw' Fighter Regiment already flies MiG-29s. - Adam Geibel