New Infantry Division on Poland's Border to Cost Warsaw Over $7Bln - Reports

WARSAW (Sputnik) - More than $7 billion will be spent by the Polish government on the creation of a new mechanized infantry division near the country's eastern border, the Defence24 portal reported on Thursday.

The 18th mechanized division will reach full combat readiness by 2026, and the cost of its formation will amount to 27 billion zlotys (about $7.13 billion) within 10 years, local media said, citing country's defense ministry.

The command of the new division will be located in the city of Siedlce, some 55 miles east of Warsaw.

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Polish Deputy Defense Minister Wojciech Skurkiewicz at a recent meeting of the parliamentary commission on defense said that the new division would include command, control battalion, two mechanized brigades and one armored brigade, as well as reconnaissance battalion, and air defense and logistics regiment.

He also noted that the creation of a new division was motivated by the need to strengthen the so-called "eastern flank" and to "ensure security in the area of historically formed operational directions."

According to Polish Defense Ministry, the division's headquarters will be formed by the end of this year. A new mechanized brigade and a command regiment will appear by 2022, and the remaining units will be formed before 2026.

In peacetime, the division will comprise about 7,800 troops, including 750 officers, 2,160 non-commissioned officers and 4,860 privates.

The commander of the new division, Gen. Jaroslaw Gromadzinski said that the formation of the headquarters had been completed by almost half, and by the end of the year this process would be 80-percent ready.