Financial Times: Poland Is Rearming For A New Type Of Warfare
- 4.05.2025, 10:23
The country leads NATO in military spending.
Poland has struggled to ramp up production of its own weapons amid a shift in U.S. foreign policy and Russia's war on Ukraine.
The Financial Times reports that the factory in Niewiadów is contributing to Poland's efforts to repel Russian aggression by increasing weapons production, reducing dependence on the United States and helping NATO and the EU support Ukraine.
"Its 80-hectare site is dotted with abandoned test sites and buildings once used to produce Soviet weapons, including C-5 missiles," the publication narrated.
Managers of the factory in Niewiadów, as well as other smaller manufacturers, complain that they are being squeezed out of the market by the Polish Armament Group (PGZ), a state-owned conglomerate that is struggling to meet even some of the armed forces' basic needs - not only for ammunition, but also for essentials such as boots and helmets.
"It's not in my character to say that everyone before me was wrong, but in this case they really failed - they didn't develop the Polish military industry," Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said of the situation.
Poland's problems in production arise despite the fact that the country leads NATO in military spending, allocating 4.7% of GDP this year to defense.
In turn, Deputy Defense Minister Cesarius Tomczyk called for 50% of the budget for military equipment to go to Polish manufacturers. But achieving that goal would require opening up military procurement, said Rafal Brzoska, a billionaire entrepreneur who advises Tusk on deregulation.
"In Poland, nothing was produced by private business, while in the United States the F-35 and everything else is produced by private companies, not the state," Brzoska emphasized.
The Tusk government continues to buy weapons from the United States no matter what. Over the past month, Poland has signed a $2 billion deal to strengthen its Patriot air defense systems, as well as the purchase of another $1.3 billion worth of air-to-air missiles.
"Our politicians can make public speeches about making everything more Polish, but when they then get a call from Washington, they will sign a contract with the United States. We love the Americans and their army, I really think we will remain totally dependent on them," Polish arms maker Jaroslaw Kruk stated.