Poland to spend billions on defence amid rumblings of war in Europe
WARSAW: Looking east to the bloody conflict gripping Ukraine, Nato-member Poland has kicked off an unprecedented military spending spree worth billions to overhaul its forces as Warsaw believes peace in Europe is no longer a given. The escalation of tensions with Russia over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and subsequent role in the crisis in that country’s east has sounded the alarm on Nato’s eastern f lank in countries that were under Moscow’s t humb during the Cold War.
Russia has also rattled its neighbours by repeatedly testing their air defences. Nato intercepted nuclear-capable Russian bombers and other warplanes in European airspace on more than 100 occasions last year, three times more than in 2013. Even though a Ukraine ceasefire deal was hammered out this past week in Minsk by Paris, Berlin, Moscow and Kiev, the risk of the conflict heating up remains, Polish officials believe.
“The key to a political and military solution lies in Moscow,”
The key to a political and military solution lies in Moscow.
Poland’s President Bronislaw Komorowski told reporters Thursday in Warsaw.
“The possibility of a lasting peace still isn’t close,” he said, insisting that the previous Minsk accord failed due to the “Russian separatists in Donbas.” Poland has earmarked 33.6 billion euros (US$42 billion) on the upgrade over a decade, which includes a missile shield and anti-aircraft systems, armoured personnel carriers and submarines as well as combat drones.
The plans bring Warsaw in line with Nato’s recommended defence spending level of 2.0 per cent of gross domestic product. Its long shopping list is full of pricey items including multi-role and combat helicopters, an anti-missile system and cruise missiles for submarines and drones. Seventy multi-role helicopters top the list, a contract worth 2.5 billion euros.
The defence ministry is expected to name the winner of the lucrative tender soon and will ensure that Polish subcontractors also reap benefits. Aeronautics firms from both sides of the Atlantic have thrown their hats into the ring. The US-based Sikorsky is up against Airbus Helicopters – formerly Eurocopter Group – and the Anglo-Italian AgustaWestland.
“The Airbus offer is the only one thatfullymeetsthespecifications,” a Western expert told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“It’s proposing a single platform while the Americans are offering two – Black Hawk and SeaHawk – while the Italians have proposed an unarmed device.” Airbus helicopters are more pricey. But having a single platform would cut maintenance costs that account for up to 80 per cent of the total expenditures over the lifetime of the unit. — AFP
Bronislaw Komorowski, Poland’s President