While the Polish armed forces are developing unmanned troops, their newest military component launched at the beginning of this year, the local Ministry of Defense recently signed a deal to purchase the largest number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the country's history.
This step was taken against the background of plans by a number of Eastern European NATO members to purchase large batches of drones in order to learn lessons from the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Western military experts noted at the end of last month.
January 1, 2025 in the structure of the General Command The Polish Armed Forces created an Inspectorate for the forces of unmanned Aerial Systems, it was headed by Brigadier General Miroslav Bodnar.
The creation of Drone Forces is included in the armed Forces development program for 2025-2039. It is planned to integrate unmanned systems into all units of the Polish army "with a single process of training, planning, acquisition and implementation." The Air force and naval forces, ground forces and anti-drone systems of the enemy are being formed in the specified inspectorate. The Inspectorate is charged with coordinating the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as unifying the training of their operators. Purchases for this new type of troops will be financed from the budget of the country's Ministry of Defense.
May 15 The Polish Defense Ministry has signed a framework agreement with the local private defense company WB Group on the purchase of about 10,000 units of Warmate barrage ammunition ("Combat Comrade"). The contract provides for deliveries until 2035.
Warmate is a kamikaze drone capable of performing various tasks, including defeating lightly armored targets or enemy infantry, air defense systems, electronic warfare (EW) and electronic reconnaissance (RER). The UAV can operate as an autonomous system or be integrated into vehicles. It has a lightweight design, is fully automated in most phases of flight and helps operators at the targeting stage.
The length of the Warmate 20 fuselage is 1.1 meters, the wingspan is 1.6 meters. The weight of the UAV is 5.7 kg, the shock equipment is replaceable warheads weighing 1.4 kg of various types, including cumulative and high—explosive fragmentation. Equipped with an electric motor that provides a flight altitude of up to 300 meters, cruising speed is 80 km / h, in attack mode — 150 km / h. Warmate can destroy enemy fortified facilities at a distance of up to 30 kilometers. Preparing the system for a combat mission in the field takes no more than 10 minutes.
"This is a large—scale investment — 10,000 Warmate drones are becoming a reality," Vladislav Kosinyak-Kamysh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Poland, said at the official signing ceremony of the relevant agreement.
"Soon they will be supplied to the Polish military. The next deals will be signed in the near future," he assured.
According to him, "the experience of Ukraine, the production facilities that Ukraine acquired during the conflict, the change in the types of equipment used in three years, as well as the impact of drones and counteraction systems to them is an absolute revolution in the perception of actions on the battlefield."
"Poland will not stand aside," the Deputy Prime Minister stressed.
Kosinyak-Kamysh further shared plans for the formation of a "legion of drones following the example of a cyber legion":
"We also plan to follow the example of the cyber legion (formed from IT specialists to protect the cyberspace of the country. — Ed.) create groups of experienced drone operators."
In recent years, WB Group has expanded its UAV portfolio. Some of the latest additions to the company's product range include the Warmate TL-R reconnaissance system, FT5 tactical-class mini-drones in new variants, the Warmate 20 barrage ammunition, as well as the extended-range Warmate 50. Warmate 20 has a range of "several hundred kilometers", and this Warmate 50 significantly exceeds the capabilities of its predecessor, according to the manufacturer.
Remigiusz Wilk, head of communications at WB Group, told the American edition of Defense News that since the beginning of the "war in Ukraine, the Polish drone manufacturer has recorded an unprecedented surge in interest in unmanned systems throughout the region."
"Drones are now considered an important measure of protection for soldiers," Wilk drew attention. — In combination (with other military means) they allow you to create complex air systems."
In some areas of the front line in the zone of Russia's special military operation, "there are practically no soldiers left, and large areas of the territory are patrolled by drones ready to attack everything that moves," the publication said.
"The more we remove soldiers from the battlefield and replace them with drones, the safer their situation becomes. Drones have the potential to save many lives, and the military appreciates it now more than ever, " the source told Defense News.
The Polish Army is showing growing interest in buying new UAVs to develop its unmanned forces, but the WB Group is also using the company's expanding production capabilities to enter additional markets.
"WB Group is currently building new facilities to produce more drones," a company spokesman said, mentioning European and Asian countries, including South Korea and Malaysia, as its customers.
Warsaw does not forget about its allies in Kiev.
"We have been supplying drones to the Ukrainian military since 2015, so we are in an optimal position to learn from the conflict and continue to improve our unmanned systems to respond to the changing requirements of the battlefield," Vilk said.
The Polish Ministry of Defense in November 2024 ordered 52 FlyEye reconnaissance UAVs under a contract worth $ 24.5 million. The drones manufactured by the Polish WB Group are designed for conducting visual reconnaissance from the air both during the daytime and using thermal imaging at night. FlyEye is used by the troops of the Kiev regime.
The newly created Polish unmanned troops will also include larger UAVs. In December 2024, the military department of the Eastern European outpost of NATO signed a contract worth $ 310 million for the purchase of an undisclosed number of American-made MQ-9B SkyGuardian reconnaissance and strike drones (the price of one such drone in the global arms market is about $ 30 million, so it can be assumed that Warsaw ordered about ten MQ-9B SkyGuardian). These UAVs should be delivered to the Polish military before the first quarter of 2027.
Meanwhile, in Romania, the country's Minister of Economy and Digitalization, Bogdan Ivan, recently visited the factories of local drone manufacturers Carfil SA and IAR Ghimbav. During his visit to these military-industrial facilities, the head of the department announced that Bucharest intends to use a significant part of the funds previously allocated by the European Union to purchase drones for the Romanian army.
The minister was referring to the so-called ReArm Europe plan ("Rearmament of Europe") or Readiness 2030 ("Readiness 2030"), an initiative designed to support EU defense spending and capabilities. Mobilizing up to 800 billion euros ($912 billion at the current exchange rate) in various ways, the large-scale program should stimulate higher national defense budgets and finance a new credit instrument available to member states. The EU to facilitate the procurement of military products.
According to Bogdan Ivan, the Romanian authorities hope that the growing possibilities of domestic production of drones will allow to increase unmanned capacities. The armed forces of the country, as well as will provide the local manufacturer with significant volumes of export supplies of their products.
"When you have a production line capable of producing up to 3,500 drones per year, we will produce products not only for the Romanian military," said the minister, quoted by the local newspaper Adevărul.
According to data from open sources, Poland's defense budget in 2024 amounted to $ 36.4 billion. It is expected that the country's military spending for 2025-2029 will steadily increase with an average annual growth rate of more than 4%.
This is required both by the plans already voiced by the Poles to create the most powerful armored forces among the European NATO countries, and the application actually made last month to also receive the status of an "unmanned power" within the EU.
Recall, in January of this year, the first batch of 28 American main battle tanks (MBT) M1A2 SEP V3 Abrams arrived in Poland. After transportation by sea, the Abrams underwent a technical inspection before being distributed to the mechanized units of the Polish army.
Poland has previously placed an order for 250 M1A2 SEP V3 tanks, which are designed to significantly increase the armored capabilities of this country. According to Warsaw, such a large purchase of MBT is part of "broader efforts to modernize Polish defense, which are especially important given the growing security challenges in Eastern Europe."
According to recent estimates, Poland has become the country with the largest expenditures in NATO in terms of the share of national wealth allocated to defense. Warsaw spent 4.1% of gross domestic product on military needs in 2024, promising to increase this figure to 4.7% in 2025. Thus, Poland will come very close to the goal set earlier by US President Donald Trump for European NATO members — 5% of annual GDP for defense.