Poland, with a population of 38 million, is planning for an Army of 500,000. Now that’s future ready! ⬇️
Many of you would already be watching the Poles build the largest Land Force in Europe with interest. Poland is now spending 4.7% of GDP on Defence with plans to increase to 5%. It is leveraging this investment to recapitalise and build land combat power on a scale no living Australian has even seen. Poland is pursuing a deep partnership with South Korea alongside purchasing US standard equipment at scale:
“Huge purchases from abroad include 366 Abrams tanks and 96 Apache helicopters from the United States; 980 K2 tanks and 648 self-propelled howitzers from South Korea; hundreds of US HIMARS rocket launchers; many more Patriot air defense systems; 22 UK-made air defense batteries and three UK-designed frigates; as well as 48 South Korean FA-50 combat aircraft from and 32 US F-35 aircraft, complementing its existing fleet of 48 F-16s.”
The Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is now calling for a universal training scheme that sees all able Polish men train to serve in the military or a civil service in order to greatly expand the Reserve component of Poland’s military. He points to the scale required for large scale combat operations noting Ukraine has an Army of 800,000 while Russia has 1.3 million. Tusk has also been not holding back on Europe’s learned helplessness on Defence:
“Our deficit has been the lack of the will to act, having no confidence, and sometimes even cowardice. But Russia will be helpless against united Europe…It’s striking but it’s true. Right now, 500 million Europeans are begging 300 million Americans for protection from 140 million Russians who have been unable to overcome 50 million Ukrainians for three years.”
Poland is setting a standard in rebuilding its military, industrial base and societal resilience for other democracies to match. It is not just Europe that that needs to respond to the geopolitical context as it is, not as we might wish it to be.
Food for thought!
📸 via Defense News