Poland will spend about $5.7 billion of the funds in the next two years, according to a defense spokesman.
The ministry plans to modernize its air-defense systems while acquiring a slew of new military vehicles, including 14 helicopters, 1,200 UAVs, three coastal defense ships and two mine destroyers. Further, a spokeswoman indicated that Poland would team up with an undisclosed NATO ally to procure a presently-unknown number of submarines, Defense News reports.
The UAV fleet will include 1,000 aircraft with fighting capabilities and 200 UAVs for surveillance missions, according to Defense News.
In November, Poland’s Parliament voted to approve the formation of a territorial defense force consisting of over 50,000 part-time soldiers to be deployed across the nation, Politico EU reported. Defense minister Antoni Macierewicz is, "a very efficient politician and defense minister" Polish pundit Mariusz Olszweski told Sputnik Poland. "His ability to place [the territorial defense force] under his personal command, rather than the president’s, is nothing short of a political masterpiece," he said.
A Polish spokeswoman said 3.2 billion zloty (approximately $768 million) would be allocated toward the territorial defense forces for new weapons and military gear.
