National Security – the one area Poland’s parties are agreed on?

A Polish military expert, Major Michał Fiszer, pilot, has said that the new purchase of F35 fighter jets by Poland is a „game changer” for Poland military capacity in situations like those at the Ukraine-Russia front. Poland’s national security seems to be continuing the line adopted by the previous government.  

Fort Worth, USA, 28.08.2024. The CEO of Lockheed Martin Greg Ulmer during the presentation of Poland’s first F-35. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka

In broad terms, the current government under Donald Tusk – despite all its differences with Law and Justice – is continuing the line on defence. 

Morawiecki, the previous PM, frequently stated that the key to peace is that 1. Poland is in possession of such advanced military systems (and such a large military) that they will never need to be used (deterrent) and 2. the defence of Ukraine is fundamental. If Ukraine falls, its neighbours like Poland and the Baltic Republics will be next (more deterrent).    

In 2020, Poland signed a deal with the USA to acquire 32 F35 jets, produced by Lockheed Martin. As we read on Lockheed Martin’s website:

Our partnership is centered on helping Poland defend against outside threats while strengthening the country from within. Poland concluded its fighter acquisition program with the signing of a Letter of Offer and Acceptance between the U.S. and Polish governments on Jan. 31, 2020, for 32 F-35A Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL) variant jets. This selection, building off Lockheed Martin’s strong, proven track record in Poland, is a testament to the nation’s confidence in the F-35 to meet its national security decades to come.

On Wednesday 28 August, on Poland’s Aviation Day, the current defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, in the USA for talks on security celebrated the first F35 presented to Poland:

Now Major Michał Fiszer, a former pilot with the Polish air force and a lecturer in Strategic Studies at Warsaw’s Collegium Civitas, has given an interview to the Polish Press Agency (PAP) about Poland’s security situation in the light of its increased defence spending. 

Fiszer said that the real battlefield situations faced by Ukraine in fighting off Russia present genuine challenges to air forces. He said that the sheer density of anti-aircraft weapons makes it very difficult to engage fighter jets – at least those without the latest technologies. 

He says that Lockheed Martin’s F35s, however, when combined with carefully military planning, are much more „invisible” to antiaircraft technology and are capable of penetrating Russian lines to attack military targets behind the front. 

He summarised the situation of Poland’s acquisition of 32 F35 jets as a new reality, a „game changer” in military terms. The step certainly seems to be in keeping with Poland’s policy hitherto of „having such a strong military that it will never be actually employed.”

Sources: f35.com, PAP, X

pt 

Radio Poland