Ukraine's state concern Ukroboronprom expects to participate in a program with Poland's armed forces to modernize T-72 tanks according to NATO standards.

Ukrobornprom's press service on Thursday said one of the versions for modernizing Polish T-72 tanks, the PT-17, modernized by Ukroboronprom together with the Polish Zaklady Mechaniczne "Bumar-Labedy" S.A., has been presented to a potential buyer during the MPSO 2017 arms exhibition held in Kielce, Poland, from September 5 to September 8.

According to the announcement, the modernization was conducted pursuant to an agreement by the sides in April and includes the replacement of the main gun of the tank with a NATO 120mm caliber gun, as well as refurbishment of the tank's defensive armor. The main systems of the retrofitted T-72 tank were developed and prepared by the Ukrainian side, the press release says.

Ukroboronprom says should the Ministry of National Defense of Poland decide on the purchase of the PT-17, the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex will be able to join in a large-scale program worth several hundred million U.S. dollars for retrofitting of Poland's T-72 tanks.

Ukroboronprom in January 2016 revealed plans to participate in a program to modernize the Polish OBT PT-91, which is a licensed version of the Soviet T-72M1 tank.

Open-source information about Polish weapons reveal the country has more than 700 T-72 tanks, of which more than 200 are PT-91s. Ukraine's T-72 tank fleet is estimated at 400.

The MPSO arms show is one of the largest in Europe and is held annually in Poland.

Ukraine and Poland have accelerated cooperation in the military sphere and are currently devising cooperation plans, which include joint production of high-precision weapons, anti-air weapons systems, drones and the joint modernization of aviation and armored vehicles.