Equipping Polish Forces for 'The Front Lines Today'

EU Defence chief Andrius Kubilius recently concluded a European “missile tour,” meeting with industry and government officials to encourage them to ramp up production of air defence and deep precision strike (DPS) missiles. He selected Warsaw as his first stop in March because, “Poland is key for the future of European defence, for the future of Europe’s defence industry, and for missile production in Europe."   

Nevertheless, officials often disagree on the means or details on how to pursue this transformation. This is playing out in disputes over plans for Poland to receive €43 billion in EU SAFE loans. Parliament approved a bill for the loans, but President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the bill saying, “I will never sign a law that undermines our sovereignty, our independence, as well as our economic and military security.” Tusk’s government, however, has bypassed the veto.

With 4.48% of its GDP spent on defence in 2025 and 4.8% planned for 2026, Poland is the only European country on track to meet NATO spending pledges agreed on last June at the Hague Summit. Poland boasts the “largest conventional army in Europe” and plans to expand that by 2039 to 500,000 soldiers and reservists.

To equip these forces, Poland has gone on a spending spree since 2022 purchasing from the U.S.,  366 Abrams tanks, 96 Apache helicopters, 32 F-35 fighter jets and 6 Patriot air defence systems. From South Korea, they also bought 48 FA-50s, 1,000 K2 Black Panther tanks and some 672 howitzers. Those are a lot of big-ticket items from overseas whose delivery could be undermined if China or North Korea decide to cause havoc in the Indo-Pacific.  

Polish officials have recently pushed to move production of imported products domestically. Of the 180 K2 tanks purchased last year, 61 will be made in Poland. Polish WB Group and South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace signed an agreement at the end of 2025 to set up missile production in Poland for K239 Chunmoo launchers. Poland has been pursuing a similar arrangement to produce rockets and missiles for its American-made HIMARS, but talks have been ongoing since 2023 with no authorisation from Washington. Under such programmes, some money goes to Polish industry, but there is continued reliance on technology controlled by other governments and persistent risks and maintenance costs associated with importing parts from overseas.

Additionally, America’s conflict in Iran should make Polish officials reconsider the U.S. as its main supplier for pursuing urgent long-range capabilities. In 2024, Poland placed a $735 million order for air-launched JASSM-ER missiles, with first deliveries expected in 2026, but the U.S. used over 1,000 in Iran and Lockheed Martin only makes 385 of them per year. For the ground-launched Tomahawks Poland has been unsuccessfully requesting, U.S. forces launched more than 850 of them in the month following Operation Epic Fury, which will take years to replace. If Poland is serious about filling its arsenal with DPS missiles, it will have to make them domestically or turn to European partners.

Following observations from the Iranian/American/Israeli conflict and Ukrainian war, Polish military leaders are quite serious about the need to equip armed forces with long-range, heavy-hitting missiles. General Wiesław Kukuła, Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, listed it as one of Poland’s top seven priorities for the army’s modernisation. His advisor, General Krzysztof Król, elaborated saying, “We must definitely produce all kinds of rocket munitions, missiles that are consumed in large quantities. It is absolutely necessary to develop our own defence industry and focus on the weapons that are consumed.” Polish defence companies are more familiarised with making artillery and drones, but last September, WB Group revealed plans for the Lanca cruise missile. Analysts estimate it will have a range of 500-800km, although its delivery date is unknown. Polish manufacturers are moving into larger systems, but this transition could be helped through collaboration with other European companies accustomed to making such missiles.

Poland is part of an initiative with France, Germany, the U.K., and Sweden initially formed for such collaboration: the European Long-range Strike Approach (ELSA). Under ELSA’s original ambition to pursue a sovereign European ground-launched capability 1,000km+ missile-maker MBDA is developing the Land Cruise Missile (LCM) with testing expected by 2027. Poland expressed interest in the missile last July when Deputy Minister of National Defence Paweł Bejda signed a letter of intent with French officials to cooperate on “land-based cruise missiles.” The LCM is derived from the MdCN which is launched from ships or submarines. MdCN could have equipped Poland’s submarines under its Orka programme if Warsaw had chosen Naval Group’s proposal. This was not the case and the recent realisation that the Saab A26 model Poland instead selected does not include a land-attack system has sparked controversy in Polish parliament, leading many to wonder whether Poland will now choose a different offer.  

Regardless which naval solution Poland ends up acquiring, the LCM remains an attractive option given the country’s military shortfalls in this capacity. Additionally, there might be potential for domestic production of the LCM as Poland’s Deputy Defence Minister, Cezary Tomczyk, recently announced a new facility will be built to manufacture MBDA-U.K.’s CAMM-ER surface-to-air-missiles. France would likely support a similar arrangement for the LCM to foster mutually beneficial industrial relations between the two countries.

Polish site Defence 24 anticipated that pursuing LCM and MdCN would be discussed during President Macron’s recent meeting with Tusk in Gdansk on April 20^th. Whether or not this occurred is unclear as collaboration on specific long-range projects was not announced. This might still be under negotiation as the historic meeting was the formalisation of an increased security partnership between the two countries with Macron saying at the meeting’s press conference "It makes sense to move forward together on… long‑range capabilities…”.   

Poland has embarked on a widely lauded remilitarisation effort, but leaders must conscientiously prepare for the realities of today’s conflicts that rely on the ability to strike deep within enemy territory. This means significant stocks of heavy-hitting missiles, ideally produced domestically or by a nearby ally. That aligns with what the European Commission said was the purpose of Kubilius’ missile tour: “…to ensure that rearming Ukraine happens in a timely manner while simultaneously helping Member States like Poland boost their own restocking efforts and strengthen their economies. This mission is about ensuring that European defence production is not just ready for the future but delivering for the front lines today.” 

Donald Ramsay is an independent organizational consultant. Specializing in Defense and Security sectors, by passion and by profession.