Polish President Andrzej Duda has announced that the Polish government plans to spend 137 billion zloty (29.60 billion euros) on defence next year, which is 4% of the country’s GDP.
The announcement was made on September 5 at the opening of an international defence exhibition in the central Polish city of Kielce.
According to Poland’s defence minister, the Polish army still needs at least two squadrons of multi-role combat aircraft. Mariusz Blaszak spoke on radio on Thursday, saying it had not yet been decided which planes should be part of them. However, he said it was important to strengthen the Polish armed forces to deter an aggressor.
According to Blaszczak, Poland has 48 F-16 fighters in its arsenal and 32 ordered F-35s, the first of which will arrive in Poland next year. Blaszczak said:
“We have 48 FA-50s ordered; 12 of those aircraft will arrive this year, some are already in the Polish Air Force, but they are still too few. We need at least another two squadrons of multi-role aircraft. What kind of planes they will be – we are working on the details.”
