According to the Global Network, just after talking about becoming the strongest army in Europe, Poland signed a huge military purchase order: the Polish Ministry of Defense will order a large number of military equipment from South Korea, including 648 K-9 self-propelled guns, 48 FA-50 fighters, and nearly 1,000 K-2 Panther main battle tanks. The Polish government said that the arms purchase contract has been finalized, and some retired South Korean military officers pointed out that this is also the largest order for weapons exports in South Korean history, which can be said to knock on the door of the European market.
South Korea won a huge order, and Poland spent 14.5 billion yuan to buy South Korean weapons
The U.S. Defense News has previously disclosed the specific details of the arms sales contract, and it is reported that if the orders for the above weapons are added together, the total will be as high as $14.5 billion, in addition, the two sides have also negotiated on industrial cooperation and technology transfer. According to the agreement signed by the two sides, the first orders, including 120 K-2 main battle tanks and 48 K-9 self-propelled guns, will begin deliveries this year, with 12 FA-50 fighters delivered by mid-2023.
South Korea poses with Polish defense officials
Such a large contract is of great significance to South Korea's arms trade, which means that South Korea has knocked on the door of the European market, laying the foundation for the subsequent sale of weapons to more European countries. However, there are also questions about whether South Korean weapons can adapt to the actual needs of Europe, and we have also noted that in addition to the sale of weapons and equipment, there is also a large number of core technologies transferred, which may also be the reason why Poland did not choose the traditionally more sought-after European weapons.
Poland opens "shopping" mode to create Europe's "strongest army"
Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Poland has repeatedly stressed the need to strengthen its military defense capabilities. The Polish defense minister said in an interview a few days ago that Poland is ready to build the most powerful army unit in Europe. Geographically, Poland borders Russia and Belarus and is on the front lines of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, so it needs to form more effective defensive forces to block potential threats, and the number of troops must be large enough to deter the enemy from retreating without a fight, whether it is tanks or artillery, Poland must become the strongest in Europe.
South Korean K-9 self-propelled gun
In order to build its strongest army, Poland has recently been very high-profile in the procurement of weapons and equipment, in addition to the weapons ordered from South Korea, Poland also plans to buy anti-tank and anti-missile weapons and attack drones. A few days ago, Poland bought 116 second-hand Abrams tanks from the United States at a low price to enhance Poland's defense capabilities, but did not disclose the specific amount.
Poland's "ambition" is undoubtedly to include Germany in the category of competitors, because German Chancellor Scholz also stated that it wants to build "the strongest army in Europe", according to the Global Times previously reported that Poland was dissatisfied with Germany's failure to provide it with main battle tanks after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Poland's future military power may have a "surge" posture, its ambitions may prompt it to cross the red line, and Russia also needs to be cautious to avoid unexpected situations.
President Duda of Poland
Europe can't be trusted, and south Korea can be chosen
Since Russia launched a special military operation, Poland has always rushed to the front line of support for Ukraine, even at the expense of hollowing out more than 200 tanks to Ukraine, support for Ukraine has become the most important foreign policy of Poland, but in addition to aid, Poland has repeatedly asked Ukraine to sign a bill granting privileges to Polish citizens in Ukraine, which is considered to expose its ambition to reclaim the territory that once belonged to Poland in history.
Previously, when Poland had not yet decided to provide tanks to Ukraine, the German government had promised to provide weapons support to Poland, and Poland was very much looking forward to Germany's practice of making up for the deficit of its own weapons in a "circular exchange", but it was unexpectedly put together by Germany, which exhausted its own military inventory, and Germany's tanks were not heard, and now the Polish Army had to face the embarrassing situation of no tanks available, eat a long and wise, since Europe can not rely on it, to create the "strongest army" The burden of providing equipment fell on South Korea.
At the end of last year, South Korea and Australia reached a 920 million U.S. military purchase order, exporting 30 K-9 self-propelled guns and 15 K-10 ammunition supply vehicles, and before that, the artillery system was also exported to India, Norway and other countries, with remarkable results.
In the short term, Poland's arms purchase program can indeed enhance its overall military strength, and may even have the capital to threaten Russia, but in the long run, no country has become a military power by buying weapons, and even India, which has "made all nations" weapons, is seeking to domestically produce weapons. Poland's path to Europe's "strongest army" is still fraught with variables, because if it only buys and imports technology, other countries can do it, especially if its own military industrial strength is still far from the old powers.
(Edit: HX)