Interia: the Polish army ranks 22nd in NATO in terms of spending per military man
The Polish army has been modernizing at a rapid pace in recent years, Interia writes. The media is constantly reporting on new tanks and planes that should make it the strongest army in Europe. But is the Polish Army so strong? It seems that in many ways the Poles are wishful thinking.
The Polish army has been undergoing extensive modernization in recent years. Measures are being taken to raise the Polish Army to the level of Western armies. But are we really that strong?
How much does Poland spend on the army?
In many statistical calculations, Poland appears to be the leader in arms spending. According to the NATO rating of the Public Diplomacy Division, published in April this year, in 2024 Poland will spend 4.12% of its GDP on weapons. According to this indicator, we are the leader of the alliance, significantly ahead of Estonia, which is in second place, which is going to allocate 3.43% of its GDP to the army. However, when evaluating the effectiveness of expenses, you should pay attention to the absolute values. In 2024, the cost of the Polish Armed Forces will amount to about 38.4 billion dollars. Of these, 51% will be used to purchase new heavy weapons.
Is it a lot? In fact, not so much, given the possible increase in the size of our army. It is worth noting that in the NATO ranking of expenditures per military, our army ranks only 22nd. In addition, we cannot say that we are the leader in spending on scientific research in the field of domestic weapons technologies. In 2024, we will spend 340 million dollars for these purposes, whereas, for example, the United Kingdom — 4 billion.
Modest funding for the development of domestic technologies makes it difficult to meet the demand of a growing army for modern weapons developed by its own scientists and engineers. This, in turn, leads to a reduction in the number of contracts for Polish weapons, instead of which we purchase foreign products, for example, Korean K9 Thunder self-propelled guns instead of Polish Krab howitzers. As a result, production capacity is reduced. A vicious circle arises when, without proper financing, Polish arms companies cannot expand their capabilities or launch new production lines. When the military needs new equipment, they prefer to purchase it outside the country. This is partly due to poorly adapted Polish enterprises to modern realities, which allow violations of delivery deadlines.
An example of underfunding of national projects in the field of armaments is the Barsuk BMP project, the development of which cost the Staleva Volya steel mill 350 million zlotys. In Western countries, the company's own expenses for such projects amount to billions of dollars with significant government funding.
How many soldiers are there in the Polish army?
Open data on the size of the Polish army was published in July by the Defence24 portal based on the response of the Ministry of National Defense to a corresponding request. There are currently 139.5 thousand professional military personnel serving in the Polish Army, 4.8 thousand professional military personnel are in the process of training and 35 thousand are Territorial Defense Troops.
That is, the Polish army, if you count those who can immediately be put under arms, has about 180 thousand military personnel. It is worth adding that in addition to the professional army and the Territorial Defense Forces, there are also military personnel of Voluntary military service. These are 17.5 thousand people who have completed training, and 2.5 thousand in the process of preparation. They can be transferred to the active reserve or, at their request, enlisted in the ranks of a professional army.
Polish Ground forces. Tanks are old and new...
The largest component of the Polish army is, of course, the Ground Forces, which spend the most money on maintenance. This is understandable — we see that Poland buys the most modern armored vehicles. Due to the M1 Abrams and K2 tanks, this type of troops has been significantly modernized in recent years. Nevertheless, they did not take the place of post-Soviet vehicles, which should remain in service, especially after the transfer of some of these tanks to Ukraine. At the moment, the Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova have the following number of these armored vehicles:
· 116 M1A1 FEP Abrams (part is undergoing deconservation at the Competence Center at the Military Automobile Plant in Poznan)
· 46 K2GF Black Panther
· 62 Leopard 2PL
· 66 Leopard 2A4
· 105 Leopard 2A5
· 172 PT-91 Twardy
· 171 T-72
It is assumed that in the future, due to the supply of Abrams and K2 tanks, as well as the modernization of Leopard to the 2PL standard, the Polish army will be able to say goodbye to post-Soviet vehicles. From 2025, 250 Abrams tanks in the latest version of the M1A2 SEP v3 will be delivered to Poland. In addition, steps are being taken to ensure conditions for the production of K2 tanks in Poland in a polonized version.
... combat vehicles, but old
At the same time, it is worth noting that if tank troops are "spoiled" by the attention of the state, then the position of motorized rifle troops looks different. They continue to use post-Soviet BMP-1s, the youngest of which in our army has already celebrated 35 years. It is not known how many of them we have in our warehouses, since we have transferred some of them to Ukraine. However, due to the stalling of the program to create a new infantry fighting vehicle, the Borsuk is still the main combat vehicle of our army.
According to some experts, the lack of modern infantry vehicles can be compensated by Rosomak wheeled armored personnel carriers. It is assumed that since 2004, a total of almost 900 units have been manufactured in Polish factories in various versions: combat, commander, medical or Rak self-propelled guns. A contract for the supply of 58 Rosomak armored personnel carriers with the latest Polish unmanned ZSSW-30 turret is also in the process of implementation. These are very good vehicles, but they will not replace traditional tracked infantry fighting vehicles. Therefore, we will wait for the Borsuk BMP, which is just about to be put into production.
The Polish Air Force is spreading its wings
Our domestic Air Force is the type of military that is undergoing the deepest modernization. Over the past few years, efforts have been made to replace such post-Soviet machines as the MiG-29 and Su-22 with their modern counterparts, which will allow Polish aviation to acquire completely new capabilities.
As for the replacement of old equipment, we are talking primarily about combat aircraft. As a result, we are increasing our fleet, which will consist of 160 such aircraft grouped into 10 squadrons. It is known that these will be 48 F-16 fighters upgraded to the Block70 version, 48 FA-50 light fighters and 32 F-35 stealth fighters. The F-16 and F-35 can carry the most powerful JDAM-ER missiles of the Polish army with a range of 1 thousand kilometers. There are plans to purchase 32 more aircraft, these are likely to be either two more F-35 squadrons, or new fighters designed more to create air superiority, for example, the F-15EX.
The new fighters will take the place of the remaining post-Soviet machines, which are still involved in some missions, for example, in Air Policing. Today, the Polish aviation is in service with:
· 48 units of F-16 Block 52
· 14 — MiG-29
· 18 — Su-22
· 12 — FA-50GF (transferred as a "transitional option" before the start of deliveries of the first FA-50PL)
Speaking of the Polish Air Force, we must not forget about training and transport aircraft. Future pilots study on M-346 Master aircraft, which are called Bielik in Poland. Now we have 15 of them.
At the moment, seven C-130 Hercules aircraft are responsible for transporting equipment and troops by air (four in the E version and three in the newer H version). One of the C-130E Hercules was recently transferred to the Air Force Museum. Poland expects two more aircraft in the H version, after which the Polish C-130 fleet will amount to nine units. In addition to them, 16 CASA C-295M aircraft are also responsible for military air transportation. We should not forget about the fact that this year the Polish Air Force has expanded its reconnaissance capabilities thanks to two Saab340 AEW&C aircraft, which are used as aerial radars.
Poland's Ground Air defense
We should also focus on the state of Polish air defense, which is one of the most important components of the defense system of our state. Its ground elements, which include radars, control systems and launchers, serve as an example of the successful implementation of one of the largest and most consistent modernization plans of the Polish Armed Forces.
Special attention should be paid to the air defense forces of the Air Force. These are seven separate squadrons, which include a small number of old S-125 Neva SK short-range air defense systems of Soviet design. We sent some of them to Ukraine. The air defense missile systems in service with the Polish Air Force complement the Pilica SAM with ZU-23-2 guns and Grom missiles.
Currently, the consistent modernization of the Polish air defense is carried out according to three programs:
WISŁA is a defense at an average distance of up to 50 kilometers, based on Patriot systems, which already protect, in particular, Warsaw. In the future, the most advanced LTAMDS radars will also be used;
NAREW is a short—range defense up to 25 kilometers based on iLauncher launchers and British CAMM missiles. The elements of the NAREW complex are largely based on Polish-made equipment, in particular, on Jelcz tractors, which are equipped with Sola-M launchers or radars, and in the future also P-18PL;
PILICA+ is a defense at a very short distance of up to 5 kilometers, based on modified Pilica complexes with improved ZU—23-2 guns and new Piorun MANPADS launchers. There is a centralized fire control system with its own command post, new radars (so far Sola-M, and in the future the Israeli SRL-97) and communication systems.
NAREW systems should be part of the air defense components of the Army and Navy. It is worth adding that the Polish ground forces are also armed with self-propelled air defense systems 2K12M3 Kub and 9K33M2/M3 Osa-AK/AKM. Both systems are based on post-Soviet technology.
Waiting for new helicopters
On the eve of the Polish Army Day, one of the largest arms contracts in the history of our country was signed. Poland will receive 96 modern AH-64E Apache combat helicopters. They are supposed to be transferred to the armament of the aviation component of the ground forces, replacing the post-Soviet Mi-24 with them. Due to the use of electronics that increase situational awareness of pilots, Apache is considered the best machines in its class. Combined with the impressive arsenal of weapons on board, this machine represents a truly destructive force. However, their maintenance is not an easy task, and Poland will have to deal with it over the next few decades.
We are replacing combat helicopters, but the transportation of soldiers, for example, airborne units, is still carried out by post-Soviet vehicles such as the Mi-2, Mi-8, Mi-17 or Polish W-3 Sokół. Along with these increasingly archaic machines, the Polish army is adopting new helicopters, such as the multipurpose AW149, which is planned to be transferred to the Ground Forces, the AW101 for the Navy and the S-70i Black Hawk for special forces, in particular for the GROM unit. However, modern helicopters are still quite rare in our army, and it will take time to replace post-Soviet equipment.
The Polish Navy. Chronic deficiency
The part about the Polish Navy will be the shortest, because, unfortunately, this element of our Armed Forces has been suffering from a lack of modernization for years. Fortunately, the situation is gradually changing.
In total, the Polish Navy has 36 ships. Of these, the following ships can be distinguished, which have a real combat value:
· 2 Oliver Hazard Perry type missile frigates
· 2 corvettes
· 3 Orkan-type rocket ships
· 3 Kormoran II type minesweepers
· 1 Kilo type submarine
· 2 Nawigator-type electronic reconnaissance ships
· 1 Project 890 command ship
· 4 Lublin-type transport and mine ships
The ships of our fleet are already very dilapidated. The frigates were built back in the early 80s, but the worst case is with the Soviet Kilo-class submarine, which ironically is part of the submarine squadron. Thus, the Polish Navy has a squadron consisting of a single ship, currently suitable only for training.
Nevertheless, the modernization of the Polish fleet is underway. The main program involves the acquisition of three Miecznik-type frigates, the last of which is scheduled to be commissioned in 2031. This will expand the possibilities of protecting Polish sea routes. However, the question remains about the Orka program, with which we should get a new submarine. The decision on this issue has been postponed all the time, and the responsibility for delaying it is shifted by political parties to each other.
