They say that the latest purchases of weapons after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, especially from the American and Korean directions, the increase in GDP for defense, as well as the calmness of the Polish authorities after the explosion of a missile in Przewodów - all this is appreciated by the "Politico" magazine.
Most quote Politico as saying that "Poland probably has the best army in Europe. And it will only get stronger." They were slow though to point out obvious, if not purposeful, mistakes.
Politico says that Poland contacted 1000 K2 tanks from South Korea which is not true. Only about 200 of those tanks will be built there. The rest, about 800, will be built in Poland under the license from Hyundai -Rothem as K2PL.
The purchases in Korea are not strictly political, their European "friends" made it so when they refused to include Poland as an equal partner to France and Germany in the development of the future European MBT. This was an astounding decision considering that Poland planned to acquire more tanks than both countries combined.
What Politico's writers failed to note was that the deal with Korea has a second reason. Poland will become Korea's backup production hub in case the country is attacked, or there is another crisis with supply chains.
That brings us back to the thinly veiled attempt to create mistrust between Poland and US when they wrote that:
"Their concern isn’t that Donald Trump will return as president, but that he won’t. Despite the deepening cooperation between the American and Polish militaries in helping Ukraine, Poland’s current leadership remains distrustful of President Joe Biden, who as a candidate referred to the country’s government as 'totalitarian."
The main reason for buying Korean fighters was that F-16s can't be built fast enough to fulfill orders from US and international militaries. And Korean FA-50s are simply cheaper to acquire and are compatible with F-16 weapons and even some parts. They can't replace F-16s because they are less powerful, they are intended to support them.
The same goes for Abrams tanks. The US simply could not spare more than two hundred of them now.
Based on:
- Meet Europe’s coming military superpower: Poland
- Poland to Buy 1,000 MBTs. Minister Błaszczak Also Outlines a Plan to Procure Extra F-35s or...
- Politico: Polska nadchodzącą potęgą militarną...
- Polska to przyszłe militarne mocarstwo Europy
