It’s a pity they don’t have the strongest democracy as well. Can they be trusted with so many weapons?
How is Poland able to afford all this? Himars, to the tune of nearly 500 launchers and… 9000 rockets!!
And Abrams!
And K2 Black Panthers!!
And K9 artillery pieces!!!
As a Romanian, with a barely functioning military armed with T-55s…. How?!….
Looks like Biden’s trip to Warsaw was just to sell weapons.
Poland can into worlds new #2 army
Payed by eu/germany?
It’s woth to mention that Poland is not only buying foreign equipment but also domestic products.
For example, in a few days/weeks Poland will sign a contract for more than 1000 Borsuk IFV – developed and produced in Poland. HSW will build 100 pieces a year.
Poland will never have most versatile and powerfull army in europe, that place always lie with France having best fighting force in europe, olso being nuclear power tops anything.
Not to say Poland can improve our quite shitty army we have, it could be one of 3 best land forces in EU but buying shit doesn’t mean they will be able to staff it with actual soldiers and not gathering dust in storehouses(if they build them lmao)
Imo US wants to find useful idiot in europe that will pay for, and defend all of eastern flank with minimal US imput, thanks not, its shared responsibility of NATO and EU to do it.
PIS megalomania fits well with US intrests on eastern flank and europe keeping US primacy in Europe for them, on our expenses in long run.
Some of them did made a sense. Poland is one of few NATO members which was preparing for full-fledged, regular war as russian military is still a issue for national security while others european NATO either operate small, expeditionary forces for policing missions or just deinvest their military capabilities.
Of course there are issues, a lot of Warsaw Pact vintages which were out of date, used beyond their technical lifespan, spare parts become hard to obtain etc. With war in Ukraine and equipment drain we need metric fuckload of everything to replace just like during good ‘ol Cold War era like hundreds new tank or hundreds new Infantry Fighting Vehicles.
Unfortunately for Europe arms producers, Europe cut their armies too much so they don’t have raw production capability to deliver a lot of hardware in short order because there was a little demand for brand new equipment since end of Cold War. So when Poland did start asking when we get couple hundreds new tanks in something like 5-6 years delivery date, you really can’t find it in Europe. There is also long, complicated story of german incompentence related to Leopard 2PL upgrade which already is years late and way over the budget.
So, USA step in. American Military-Industrial Complex wasn’t starved too much after 1991, in fact US Congress made sure that a lot of production capabilities were always avalaible even if it looks “stupidly expensive”. You want a couple hundreds tanks? Fortunately for you, we do have couple thousand M1 Abrams tanks in Sierra Army Depot AND fully-operating Lima Tank Plant (only tank factory in USA) with whole logistics chain in place. Refurbishing tank hulls to mint condition from storage to built pretty much a new tank from the scratch not gonna be a issue and delivery will be finished in in a couple years.
Honestly, out of all the countries in Europe, Poland probably probably needs the most. They would be the front line against Russia. Should be subsidized
Meanwhile, soldiers are leaving the army en masse because the military cannot keep them supplied in peacetime, while sending them to guard the eastern border.
Considering the geography of Poland (mostly flat land, mountains to the south and access to the sea to the north) a strong military is needed. Poland is accessible for Russia and Belarus without geographical obstacles to the east. It’s understandable that they feel the need to anticipate any possible attack.
This article subtly highlights a very SERIOUS and REAL issue.
>With such high spending, one can’t “just be a client,” said Siewiera, citing plans to step up the domestic Polish defense industry.
>Against that backdrop, some of the decisions on buying arms from the United States appear “over-ideological” said Gressel, given that European manufacturers are more open to joint ventures that would help develop Poland’s arms industry.
>“The Americans have no interest in cooperating much beyond exporting ready-made stuff to Poland,” he said, noting the size of the market.
The issue is that without a strong interconnected local military industry between EU countries, dependence on the US will only increase in time. The seed exists, several EU countries have highly developed military industries, the only thing they lack compared the US one is SCALE. This is the moment to SCALE up EU military industry. It provides economic growth, research and engineering jobs, which in general are highly paid, and it would also serve to further European self reliance and not have to depend on the US.
THe thing is in the next decades the US will have it’s hands full with China and it’s best for them to focus in that direction while Europe holds the ground against Russia.
Bonus effect: We won’t get Muricans complaining they subsidize our defense.
Current effect: We can tell them that in fact WE subsidize their military industry with the amount of stuff European countries are buying atm. 🙂
Conspiracy hat on: This might also be one of the reasons both the US and their UK ‘friends’ have been opposing an integrated EU army. They are greedy, and they don’t want Europe to be self reliant on defense, because as a whole we are probably some of their biggest customers.
The problem with this is that the Polish government is embezzling as much money as it is spending. This is untenable and a catastrophe for future generations of Poles.
Some comments are really laughable. What is the purpose of throwing shit at a country that is trying to develop and to defend what should be your own borders? And it’s not just buying but making agreements to be a modern tanks producer. Also people point out on EU’s money saying that’s wrong but they don’t remember when their own countries betrayed Poland and they took money from others to rebuild their country. Seriously, WTF? Probably it’s true that the colour blue in the Polish flag stands for reliable allies.
While, some investment in army is needed, I think that this scale is unnecessary. At this point its just stroking nationalism and “poland strok” mentality so that people vote for the current government come next election.
I welcome our new polish overlords. I hope they invest in MBT and tracked artillery production. Missiles would be a bonus.
Is that why they bought Korean tanks? Fucking joke article
Next time it’s Poland going to blitzkrieg Germany XD
Poland needs nuclear weapons
Yep, time to get revenge for ’39.
How many schools and Hospitals could you build with that?
21 comments
It’s a pity they don’t have the strongest democracy as well. Can they be trusted with so many weapons?
How is Poland able to afford all this? Himars, to the tune of nearly 500 launchers and… 9000 rockets!!
And Abrams!
And K2 Black Panthers!!
And K9 artillery pieces!!!
As a Romanian, with a barely functioning military armed with T-55s…. How?!….
Looks like Biden’s trip to Warsaw was just to sell weapons.
Poland can into worlds new #2 army
Payed by eu/germany?
It’s woth to mention that Poland is not only buying foreign equipment but also domestic products.
For example, in a few days/weeks Poland will sign a contract for more than 1000 Borsuk IFV – developed and produced in Poland. HSW will build 100 pieces a year.
Poland will never have most versatile and powerfull army in europe, that place always lie with France having best fighting force in europe, olso being nuclear power tops anything.
Not to say Poland can improve our quite shitty army we have, it could be one of 3 best land forces in EU but buying shit doesn’t mean they will be able to staff it with actual soldiers and not gathering dust in storehouses(if they build them lmao)
Imo US wants to find useful idiot in europe that will pay for, and defend all of eastern flank with minimal US imput, thanks not, its shared responsibility of NATO and EU to do it.
PIS megalomania fits well with US intrests on eastern flank and europe keeping US primacy in Europe for them, on our expenses in long run.
Some of them did made a sense. Poland is one of few NATO members which was preparing for full-fledged, regular war as russian military is still a issue for national security while others european NATO either operate small, expeditionary forces for policing missions or just deinvest their military capabilities.
Of course there are issues, a lot of Warsaw Pact vintages which were out of date, used beyond their technical lifespan, spare parts become hard to obtain etc. With war in Ukraine and equipment drain we need metric fuckload of everything to replace just like during good ‘ol Cold War era like hundreds new tank or hundreds new Infantry Fighting Vehicles.
Unfortunately for Europe arms producers, Europe cut their armies too much so they don’t have raw production capability to deliver a lot of hardware in short order because there was a little demand for brand new equipment since end of Cold War. So when Poland did start asking when we get couple hundreds new tanks in something like 5-6 years delivery date, you really can’t find it in Europe. There is also long, complicated story of german incompentence related to Leopard 2PL upgrade which already is years late and way over the budget.
So, USA step in. American Military-Industrial Complex wasn’t starved too much after 1991, in fact US Congress made sure that a lot of production capabilities were always avalaible even if it looks “stupidly expensive”. You want a couple hundreds tanks? Fortunately for you, we do have couple thousand M1 Abrams tanks in Sierra Army Depot AND fully-operating Lima Tank Plant (only tank factory in USA) with whole logistics chain in place. Refurbishing tank hulls to mint condition from storage to built pretty much a new tank from the scratch not gonna be a issue and delivery will be finished in in a couple years.
Honestly, out of all the countries in Europe, Poland probably probably needs the most. They would be the front line against Russia. Should be subsidized
Meanwhile, soldiers are leaving the army en masse because the military cannot keep them supplied in peacetime, while sending them to guard the eastern border.
Considering the geography of Poland (mostly flat land, mountains to the south and access to the sea to the north) a strong military is needed. Poland is accessible for Russia and Belarus without geographical obstacles to the east. It’s understandable that they feel the need to anticipate any possible attack.
This article subtly highlights a very SERIOUS and REAL issue.
>With such high spending, one can’t “just be a client,” said Siewiera, citing plans to step up the domestic Polish defense industry.
>Against that backdrop, some of the decisions on buying arms from the United States appear “over-ideological” said Gressel, given that European manufacturers are more open to joint ventures that would help develop Poland’s arms industry.
>“The Americans have no interest in cooperating much beyond exporting ready-made stuff to Poland,” he said, noting the size of the market.
The issue is that without a strong interconnected local military industry between EU countries, dependence on the US will only increase in time. The seed exists, several EU countries have highly developed military industries, the only thing they lack compared the US one is SCALE. This is the moment to SCALE up EU military industry. It provides economic growth, research and engineering jobs, which in general are highly paid, and it would also serve to further European self reliance and not have to depend on the US.
THe thing is in the next decades the US will have it’s hands full with China and it’s best for them to focus in that direction while Europe holds the ground against Russia.
Bonus effect: We won’t get Muricans complaining they subsidize our defense.
Current effect: We can tell them that in fact WE subsidize their military industry with the amount of stuff European countries are buying atm. 🙂
Conspiracy hat on: This might also be one of the reasons both the US and their UK ‘friends’ have been opposing an integrated EU army. They are greedy, and they don’t want Europe to be self reliant on defense, because as a whole we are probably some of their biggest customers.
The problem with this is that the Polish government is embezzling as much money as it is spending. This is untenable and a catastrophe for future generations of Poles.
Some comments are really laughable. What is the purpose of throwing shit at a country that is trying to develop and to defend what should be your own borders? And it’s not just buying but making agreements to be a modern tanks producer. Also people point out on EU’s money saying that’s wrong but they don’t remember when their own countries betrayed Poland and they took money from others to rebuild their country. Seriously, WTF? Probably it’s true that the colour blue in the Polish flag stands for reliable allies.
While, some investment in army is needed, I think that this scale is unnecessary. At this point its just stroking nationalism and “poland strok” mentality so that people vote for the current government come next election.
I welcome our new polish overlords. I hope they invest in MBT and tracked artillery production. Missiles would be a bonus.
Is that why they bought Korean tanks? Fucking joke article
Next time it’s Poland going to blitzkrieg Germany XD
Poland needs nuclear weapons
Yep, time to get revenge for ’39.
How many schools and Hospitals could you build with that?