Building One of Europe's Largest & Highly Capable Military - The Polish Way
Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in Feb 2022, Poland has been working almost in an obsessed manner towards the goal of building one of Europe's largest & highly capable military to effectively deter Russia from even daring to look at the Poles at its next target backed by credible military power and might..
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia was truly a 'Zeitenwande' moment for Germany and almost a watershed moment for the entire European continent as it almost dispelled the myth and the carefully crafted imagery of a reformed Russia & Putin since the end of Cold War and effectively invoked the haunting memories of the Cold War Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe.
The invasion and the accompanying return of Trump as the Republican Presidential nominee almost came as a double whammy for the European political leaders who were forced to sit-up and take notice of the tectonic shift and what has transpired consequently since then has been quite along the obvious lines. A massive increase in Global Defense Spending which reached its highest ever level of $2.4 trillion, while growing at over 6% year-on-year, spearheaded primarily by European nations which have undertaken massive defense modernization for capabilities build-up, including, replacement & recapitalizaton of old, Cold-War era legacy defense equipment, modernization and procurement of new defense equipment.
However, the European nation which has truly led this wave of defense renaissance across Europe so far is Poland which has made massive investments towards defense over the recent years. In terms of geography, Poland is in a unique position as it is the only European nation which shares direct land borders with both Russia as well as Ukraine along with Belarus, thereby, facing a direct military threat to its sovereignty. Poles are, thus, beefing up their military capabilities massively to be able to deter and defend themselves against a potential aggression from its belligerent neighbors.
Polish defense budget has almost skyrocketed ever since, growing by almost 75% year-on-year at $31.6 billion for 2023. Despite a change in political leadership in 2023 the defense spending spree has continued unabated. The nation's defense budget for 2024 is set to grow further by another 33% to $41.5 billion for 2024 accounting for almost 4.2% of the nation's GPD and is projected to grow further up by another 10% to $45+ billion for 2025.
The key beneficiaries of this European and Polish mega spending spree have been mostly the American and South Korean defense OEMs which have seen their order books swell over the recent years with multiple defense deals amounting to billions of dollars in value. Key defense acquisitions made by Poland over the recent years include:-
The acquisition of 250 upgraded American M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) worth $4.75 billion signed in 2022 followed by an agreement for another 116 M1A1 Abrams worth $1.4 billion with deliveries scheduled through 2025-2026. The first few M1s were subsequently received in Warsaw in June 2023, tehreby, making Poland the first NATO & European nation to operate the highly coveted Abrams.
Agreement to procure 32 of the 5th generation F-35 stealth fighter jets signed in 2020 which made Poland the 10th NATO member nation to operate the F-35. The first F-35 jet, destined for Poland, ust rolled off the Lockheed Martin's Final Assembly Line last month in late August 2024.
Poland has also signed an agreement in June 2024 with Hyundai Rotem for procurement of 180 K2 Black Panther tanks from South Korea with a local production facility for the same to be established in Poland. Additionally, Warsaw is also acquiring 364 K9A1 Self-Propelled Howitzers from Hanwha worth EUR 4.36 billion along with 72 K239 Chunmoo Multiple Rocket Launch System worth $1.6 billion.
The acquisition of 96 AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopters, too, has been signed by Poland with Boeing under the U.S. Government's FMS route worth $10 billion.
Poland is also acquiring around 48 FA-50 Trainer and Light Attack Aircraft from the Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) as per an agreement signed in September 2022 worth $3 billion.
As they say, the global defense industrial base operates alternately between the fasting and the feasting modes and this seemingly is the time to feast for the defense OEMs globally as geopolitical contests and conflicts fuel an almost unprecedented surge in global defense spending which is likely to be sustained over medium term...
About the Author: Rajat Narang is the Co-Founder & Partner of Noealt Corporate Services apart from being an A&D Industry Researcher & Specialist, Serial Author and Nuclear, Aviation & Cold-War Historian. For his full bio and list of books authored by him, access his author page on Amazon.com
Image: Polish Defense Minister receives the first batch of U.S.-made M1 Abrams MBTs in Warsaw. Image Source: X.com
