Poland will have Europe's strongest land army in the autumn

Building shooting ranges across the country and introducing shooting exercises in the classroom, this year Poland will increase defence spending to four percent of GDP. The government promises that before the autumn elections, the country will have the most powerful land army in Europe, RTV reported.

Poland is one of the largest military supporters of Ukraine, because it has supplied military equipment worth EUR three billion. In particular, more than 200 tanks and MiG-29 fighters. It is also the protagonist of the coalition of countries to supply modern combat aircraft to Ukraine. At the same time, it significantly increases defence spending and equips its own army.

Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak recently announced at a pre-election rally in Wolomin that the Polish army will become the strongest in Europe. At the same time, at Monday’s meeting of the defence ministers of the 12 northern European NATO member states, he announced new agreements to achieve this goal.

"We are negotiating with Sweden on the purchase of early warning aircraft. Detailed negotiations are already underway and I hope they will be successfully concluded soon. This way we will strengthen the resilience of Poland, as well as the eastern wing of NATO," Błaszczak said.

Among other things, Poland ordered thousand K2 tanks and K9 howitzers from South Korea, and 250 American Abrams tanks. And from 2026, part of the K2 tanks will also be produced in Poland, which will create additional workplaces.

Poland’s homeland security law, which was passed last year, foresees almost doubling the number of troops (to 300,000) in the coming years. Voluntary conscription was also introduced. Since last year, a training program with the army has been held for all those interested between the ages of 15 and 65 every Saturday for eight hours.

They are also building shooting ranges at an accelerated pace, which the government is encouraging. The Minister of Defence believes that it is important for young people to acquire shooting skills, which is why he recently announced the construction of new shooting ranges across the country. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also attended the opening of one of them. Starting next year, shooting exercises will also be introduced in defence lessons at school.

Now Poland is becoming one of the most important military forces in Europe. The 25th country in terms of GDP, it became the second country after the United States to provide the largest military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

The two-day Defence24 Day conference started today in Warsaw with the participation of politicians from Poland and abroad, representatives of the army and defence industry.