Russian Tensions See Poland Bolster Military Power: Warsaw To Spend Nearly $14.5 Billion On New Defense Gear

Poland will set aside over 61 billion zloty ($14.5 billion) to purchase new military equipment from 2017 to 2022, a spokeswoman for the Polish Ministry of Defense said. Warsaw is planning on improving its air defense, naval, cybersecurity, tank and armored vehicle, and territorial defense capacities.

“Of these, in the course of the next three years, until the end of 2019, more than 24 billion zloty will be spent,” Katarzyna Jakubowska, the acting spokeswoman for the ministry, reportedly said.

Poland’s priority procurements include new air defense systems with 14 multi-purpose helicopters and 1,200 UAVs. It is also looking to purchase three coastal defense vessels and two mine destroyers. Warsaw will also buy an undisclosed amount of submarines with another NATO ally, Jakubowska said.

The UAVs include at least 1,000 drones equipped with combat capabilities and 200 UAVs with reconnaissance and surveillance equipment. Improvements to the five key areas will cover about 60 percent of its total budget for military modernization from 2017 to 2020.

Nearly 50,000 part-time soldiers, part of Polish territorial defense forces, will be equipped with new military gear by 2022, amounting to almost 3.2 billion zloty, Jakubowska added.

Heightened tensions in Europe due to Russian aggression in Ukraine have led to several countries upgrading their defense forces. Oslo is also improving its defense system with the proposed addition of five Boeing Co P-8A maritime surveillance planes that would help Norway track Russian submarines.

Sweden is also increasingly worried about perceived Russian aggression in the region, internal Swedish documents revealed. Stockholm has not ruled out a possible threat of the use of military force by Moscow. Meanwhile, 16 European countries led by Germany are working together to push for a new arms control agreement with Russia in the hopes of preventing an arms race in Europe given the heightened tensions.