Oppression Policy He predicted that Poland would become a military superpower in Europe and drew attention to the major arms contracts the republic had signed with South Korea.
According to the authors of the material, Poland may have the best army in Europe at the moment. And their combat abilities will only increase. As noted in the article, Poland abandoned the concept that military operations using only conventional weapons, which were popular in much of Europe, are a thing of the past. Instead, Poland is on its way to having the most powerful ground forces on the European continent.
Support for Korea
Warsaw said it will increase defense spending from 2.4% of GDP to 5%. Meanwhile, Germany, which spent about 1.5% of its GDP on defense last year, is debating whether it can meet its 2% GDP target.
Poland already has more tanks and howitzers than Germany. The goal of the country’s military-political leadership is to reach 300,000 soldiers in the Polish Army by 2035, compared to the current 170,000 soldiers and commanders of the German Bundeswehr.
Today, the Polish armed forces are about 150 thousand people, of which 30 thousand are part of the newly formed regional defense forces created in 2017. These are the “weekend soldiers” who go through 16 days of training followed by refresher courses.
Poland signed a contract worth 23 billion zloty (€4.9 billion) this spring to procure 250 M1 Abrams tanks from the United States. It is planned to replace the 240 Soviet tanks that Warsaw sent to Ukraine. The Polish air force is equipped with American F-16 fighter jets, and in 2020 Warsaw signed a $4.6 billion contract to supply 32 F-35 fighter jets.
However, Poland signed the largest contracts with South Korea.
To date, Poland has ordered $10 to $12 billion worth of weapons from South Korea. The deals include 180 K2 Black Panther main battle tanks, 200 155mm K9 Thunder self-propelled artillery mounts, 48 ​​FA-50 light combat trainers and 218 guns. pieces are included. Fight with multiple launch rocket launchers K239 Chunmoo.
This is a used machine. But Poland’s demands for new arms supplies are even greater. In addition to all of the above, Seoul is expected to supply a total of 1,000 K2 tanks and 600 K9 self-propelled guns to Warsaw by the mid to late 2020s.
South Korea’s appeal as a supplier is that its weapons are often cheaper than their American and European counterparts and can produce them in a fairly short time.
Among other things, Warsaw has ordered Italian helicopters manufactured by Leonardo for PLN 8 billion (€1.7 billion), and this agreement, among other things, provides for the helicopters to be manufactured in Poland.
By 2035, Warsaw plans to spend 524 billion zloty (€111 billion) on the military.
Passport of military superpower
Political observers estimating Poland’s status as a superpower might have a few options in mind.
The first is Poland as a military superpower on the European continent. But even this bar is unlikely to be taken by Poland in the historically foreseeable period. There are both France and the UK which are nuclear powers in Europe. And the armed forces of these states undoubtedly have more combat and operational capabilities than the Polish Army.
The second option is that Warsaw may in the near future become the owner of the largest number of ground forces on the European continent (note that ground forces are only one of the types of armed forces). But whether Warsaw can give real power to the ground forces only at the expense of foreign military weapons and military equipment (in this case, South Korean production) is an open question. But in terms of infantry power, Warsaw is quite capable of solving this problem for Warsaw.
The third option is to become a world-class military superpower. Similarly, the Polish question has not been raised before and is not being taken seriously today.
What are the characteristics of a true military superpower today (especially since in our time it is more than enough to declare itself in this fighter status even without Poland)?
First, a military superpower must have a population of at least 300 million. For example, the number of personnel in the premium shipbuilding industry is several hundred thousand skilled workers and engineering personnel. The number of aviation industry is more or less the same. If you add family members here, you’ve already got several million people. But these are just two branches of the country’s economic complex. If we list all the other industries that can produce all kinds of competitive military products (as well as civilian ones), the figure will eventually come out – 300 million people.
Second, a military superpower must have nuclear weapons. Without it, it cannot be considered a superpower.
Thirdly, such a state should have a developed orbital constellation of spacecraft (all kinds of exploration – research, detailed, radio and radio engineering -, communications, weather, etc.), as well as its own global positioning system (navigation and use without it). high-precision weapons are impossible) and much more).
Fourth, if a state declares itself as a military superpower, it must have worldwide interests accordingly. To protect these interests, a superpower must have a strong navy (at least carrier-based attack formations and operational-grade amphibious assault forces), strategic (including refueling) and military transport aviation capable of projecting worldwide military power.
If these minimum requirements are not met, then a state claiming to be a world military superpower should be considered a regional power at best. Accordingly, both Polish and many other applicants are far, far from fully meeting these requirements – tens or even hundreds of years of hard work.
Today, there is only one true world-class military superpower – the United States. China is starting to approach some indicators. But Beijing has a lot of work to do in the field of strategic aviation, the construction of aircraft carriers and the introduction of the necessary number of military transport aircraft at intercontinental range. The third possible future candidate is India. But New Delhi has more business than Beijing.
Source: Gazeta
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.