Poland has announced new military agreements worth $520 million as part of its ongoing effort to strengthen its defense capabilities. Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz revealed the deals on Tuesday during an international military trade fair in Kielce, a southern city that hosted hundreds of exhibitors and experts from nations such as Australia, Britain, and the United States.
The Polish government is set to sign contracts valued at nearly two billion zloty, including a significant 1.1 billion zloty deal with a Spanish company for surveillance systems around airports. Additionally, Poland finalized three other agreements focused on military logistics and communications.
Poland, a NATO member, has significantly increased its defense spending since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The country currently allocates four percent of its GDP to defense, the highest ratio among NATO members, and plans to increase this to 4.7 percent next year.
Recently, Warsaw secured a $10 billion deal to acquire 96 Apache attack helicopters from Boeing, replacing its aging fleet of Russian Mi-24 helicopters. The Polish government also signed contracts for hundreds of AIM-120C AMRAAM air-to-air missiles and 48 launchers for US-designed Patriot air defense systems. With an army of 200,000 soldiers, Poland now boasts NATO’s third-largest military, following the United States and Turkey, and the largest within the European Union
Source: AFP
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