Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak announced that Poland is to increase its military forces up to 300 thousand people and plans to form two new divisions. According to Błaszczak the military buildup is caused by the changes in geopolitics and by the need to develop Polish capability of a prompt response to new challenges.
He also stated that Poland needs to have a solid ground to achieve the declared goals. "Our goal is for the Polish Army to reach the level of 300,000 troops, including 250,000 full-time soldiers or operational troops, and 50,000 soldiers of the territorial defence forces," he said.
The minister also stated that two new divisions are going to be formed. Along with them Along with the new divisions, Poland plans to strengthen the existing ones. For example, Blaszczak announced the special attention that the 16th and 18th divisions should receive. The latter, also known as the mechanized division named after General Tadeusz Buk, according to the minister, will receive Abrams tanks to defend its direction.
Poland also continues to increase its defence spending. At the end of January Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that this year the country’s defense spending will reach 4% of GDP. In 2022 this figure was 2.4%. Morawiecki declared that the reason for these measures lies in the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In total, Warsaw plans to spend about $100 billion by 2035 for defense spending.
In recent years, Poland has put a lot of effort to upgrade its military equipment, including tanks. In 2022, Warsaw signed a contract for the purchase of 980 South Korean K2. As part of the first tranche, Poland will receive 120 tanks by 2025. In accordance with the agreement, the rest of the equipment will be assembled on Polish territory. It is expected that 800 K2 tanks will be assembled at the production facilities in Poznan. Earlier, Warsaw and Washington also reached an agreement on the supply of 250 Abrams tanks, the first 58 of which will be delivered in 2023. In addition to tanks, Poland buys howitzers, high-tech missile systems and other military equipment from South Korea and the United States.
Sources: Notes From Poland, The First News
