The Poles strengthen their defenses by buying weapons from South Korea for 14.2 billion euros. A part could be destined for the Ukrainians. Questioning Germany that it would not do enough to help kyiv against Russian aggression. Poland wants a strong military deterrent against threats from the Kremlin.
Moscow () – After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the authorities in Warsaw have announced their intention to form the largest army in the entire European Union. The latest news in this regard is the signing of an agreement for a colossal arms purchase from South Korea, the largest in all of Poland’s recent history.
980 tanks, more than 600 self-propelled howitzers and 48 military training aircraft will arrive from Seoul. They will replace the weapons that Poland has supplied to Ukraine and will generally strengthen the Armed Forces in Warsaw. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszak said the total cost of the deal amounts to 14.2 billion euros.
The first to arrive from Korea will be 180 K2 “Black Panther” model tanks, the rest of the supplies will be assembled in Polish factories under license from South Korea. The K2 is the latest model of armored vehicles, which was created in 2014 and so far is considered the only fourth-generation tank in the world. And the most expensive: it is worth 8.3 million euros each. The other technologies are also very recent and very efficient, with threat recognition systems according to NATO standards.
Of the current 150,000 soldiers, it is estimated that twice as many will be organized, even up to 400,000. Blaszak explained that “the Polish army will have to be so strong and numerous as to intimidate the potential aggressor with its very existence; in fact, the Kremlin does not attack the strong but only when it sees weakness”. Polish military spending already covers 2.4% of the national GDP, next year it will reach 3% to reach 5% in 2024.
The Polish war industry alone is capable of producing many heavy weapons, such as the PT-91 Twardy tanks that were delivered in large numbers to kyiv last month (the exact number has not been disclosed). The spokesman for the Agency for Armaments of the Ministry of Defense, Krzistof Platek, assured that “the shortage of armored vehicles for the Ukrainians will be fully covered, even up to twice the forces, since these means are much more powerful than those used until now”. Between February and June, Poland had already provided the Ukrainians with more than 500 tanks.
Poland also expects real supplies from Germany for kyiv, which until now are considered only symbolic, while “we are emptying our arsenals to help Ukraine.” Berlin has denied the accusations of non-compliance with the agreements with Warsaw, although it has recognized that the “circular exchange” mechanism within NATO works unsatisfactorily; “We cannot deliver all the tanks in one night,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
Journalist Sergej Peles of Bielsat, a Polish Belarusian-language television channel, stated that “the deal with the Koreans is the largest in recent history since the fall of the communist regime, and it is surprising that it was made with Seoul and not with Washington or Berlin, as was the case in the past.” Some of the Korean weapons could in turn be transferred to Ukraine, with obviously secret agreements, as happened with the M142 Himars multiple rocket launchers, obtained at the time from the United States. of more than 500 pieces that have become of fundamental effectiveness in the Ukrainian counteroffensive against the Russian occupiers.
One of the best qualities of the Korean war industry, explains Peles, is the ability to produce very quickly, and the 980 tanks will be ready shortly. Poland is a great historical adversary of Russia. In his Russian campaign Napoleon employed 800,000 soldiers, almost half of whom were Poles. Today Warsaw is proposed as the military leader of Europe, in a future in which war seems to be an element that can no longer be avoided, much less underestimated.
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