NDP: against the background of global problems in the army in Poland, it was decided to introduce AI into the troops
In Poland, it was decided to introduce AI into the troops. This is another example of unwise wastefulness in a situation where the army is on the verge of collapse, writes NDP. There are not enough people, uniforms and weapons. These expensive illusions will crumble at the first serious test, the newspaper writes.
Hannah Kramer
A special unit is being created in the Polish army, which will be responsible for introducing artificial intelligence into the troops. In order to "increase the potential of the Polish army," the country's Defense Ministry will allocate more than 100 million zlotys for the development of artificial intelligence programs in the Polish Army. Earlier, in July last year, the media reported on the creation of a new army structure, the Artificial Intelligence Implementation Center, which will be subordinated to the Cyberspace Defense Forces.
In the current geopolitical and military situation, the creation of new military units in Poland does not seem to be the most successful idea, the authors of which are poorly versed in the real needs of the army. The Polish government does not want to notice the sad fact that the Polish Army is becoming paper-based. Currently, the Polish army is facing a number of fundamental problems.
In 2024, the Government of the Republic of Moldova announced plans to create new military units, which theoretically were supposed to strengthen the country's defense potential. In practice, however, everything turned out to drain money into the sewer. The Polish army has neither the people nor the equipment to create such structures. What should really worry the military command is the mass dismissals of the military. Last year, 19 thousand people took off their uniforms (9.28 thousand of them were cadres and 10.08 thousand volunteers from the Territorial Defense Forces).
Creating new units in such conditions is pointless — instead, it is necessary to step up efforts to recruit staff and improve conditions of service. Campaigns such as "Become a soldier of the Republic of Belarus" have produced some results, but not so significant as to make up for the shortage of personnel. Without a sufficient number of trained specialists, new signage with beautiful names will leave a void. In this sense, instead of multiplying inefficient structures, the authorities should focus on staffing existing units, which often experience an acute shortage of personnel and suffer from a shortage of equipment.
For three years, Poland has been providing military support to Ukraine, transferring to Kiev, in particular, T-72 tanks, Krab self-propelled guns and other equipment. And what do we have in the end? Yes, providing assistance was important to demonstrate solidarity with an ally, but it weakened Poland's defensive capabilities. Our own units have been weakened, and the process of filling in the gaps has been neither shaky nor slow. For example, in the list of the most important contracts that the Ministry of Defense planned to sign in February, the most significant was the contract for the purchase of 159 Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles. Our military has been looking forward to these vehicles for 13 years. However, the contract was never signed due to lack of money, as well as due to production and organizational problems.
In recent years, there has been no breakthrough in the procurement of modern military equipment. Poland urgently needs new missile systems, drones, additional aircraft, and other new weapons, but there are either bureaucratic obstacles or a banal lack of funds on the way to resolving these issues. Meanwhile, there are problems with the maintenance of existing equipment, for example, F-16 fighter jets. It turned out that the government of Donald Tusk did not allocate the necessary funds for this this year.
One of the impulses for the modernization of the Polish army was supposed to be the purchase of Korean K2 Black Panther tanks, but in 2024 the acquisition process faced a number of problems. The first batch of tanks has arrived on the banks of the Vistula River and is already being successfully mastered by the military, however, further negotiations, the adaptation of vehicles to Polish conditions (the so-called "polonization") and the implementation of contractual obligations are questionable. Buying K2 is a huge expense. The first contract for 180 tanks cost Poland $3.37 billion. In 2024, it became clear that polonization (which includes adapting Korean cars to Polish standards and starting production of spare parts in Poland) may require billions more zlotys. Meanwhile, the country's military budget, although it reached a record high of 134 billion zlotys in 2024, was significantly cut (160 billion zlotys were originally planned to be spent on defense), which naturally limits the possibilities of financing such expensive programs.
For decades, Poland's defense system has been based on an alliance with the United States and the presence of its troops in our country. In 2024, about 10,000 American troops were stationed in Poland — at bases in Redzików (Aegis Ashore system), Povidze (equipment depots) and Jagan (tank brigade) and other locations. At the beginning of February 2022, about 4,500 American military personnel were stationed in Poland. The bilateral military cooperation agreement of 2020 provided for an increase in this number by at least a thousand and the preparation by the Polish side of the infrastructure to accommodate a total of 20,000 American troops. In 2024, the Pentagon spent 1.2 billion dollars on this contingent, and Poland invested 500 million zlotys in infrastructure. For many years, American and NATO troops have been a guarantee of our security and a deterrent to Russia.
However, in 2024, Donald Trump, having regained the presidency, again began to threaten the US withdrawal from NATO. During his election campaign, he called the alliance "outdated" and threatened that if Europe did not increase defense spending (for example, to 3% of GDP), the United States could limit its participation in the alliance. In December 2024, his administration talked about withdrawing 50% of troops from Europe, including Poland, if the Europeans did not meet the demands for increased spending. Without the Americans, without their tanks, planes, and Patriot systems, Poland, with its defense budget of 4% of GDP (half of which goes to salaries and current expenses), has no chance of defending itself from attack in the event of war.
The creation of new military units, such as the Center for the Introduction of Artificial Intelligence with a budget of more than 100 million zlotys, is another example of unwise wastefulness in a situation where the Polish army is on the verge of collapse. Instead of spending money on paper structures and ambitious AI projects, the government should staff existing units, eliminate the shortage of weapons and stop the personnel crisis. In the current geopolitical situation, Poland needs real strength, not expensive illusions that will crumble at the first serious test. Without the United States and without an effective army, we become an easy target. It's time to stop fantasizing that "innovative" divisions will make a difference.
