Military and security service personnel strengths | approximately 210,000 including air, ground, naval, special forces, and Territorial Defense Forces (2024) |
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Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the military's inventory consists of a mix of some Soviet-era and a growing amount of more modern, NATO-compatible, weapons systems; in recent years, the leading suppliers of armaments have included several European countries, South Korea, and the US; Poland has a large domestic defense sector that produces or provides upgrades to a wide variety of weapons systems, particularly ground systems such as tanks and other armored vehicles; it also cooperates with the European and US defense sectors (2023) |
Military service age and obligation | 18-28 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; conscription phased out in 2009-12; professional soldiers serve on a permanent basis (for an unspecified period of time) or on a contract basis (for a specified period of time); initial contract period is 24 months; women serve in the military on the same terms as men (2024). note 1: as of 2024, women made up about 16.5% of the military's full-time personnel note 2: in May 2022, Poland announced a new 12-month voluntary military service program with recruits going through a one-month basic training period with a military unit, followed by 11 months of specialized training; upon completion of service, the volunteers would be allowed to join the Territorial Defense Forces or the active reserve, and have priority to join the professional army and be given preference for employment in the public sector; the program is part of an effort to increase the size of the Polish military |
Military deployments | 210 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR); up to 180 Latvia (NATO); 190 Lebanon (UNIFIL); approximately 230 Romania (NATO) (2024). note 1: Poland has obligated about 2,500 troops to the Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine joint military brigade (LITPOLUKRBRIG), which was established in 2014; the brigade is headquartered in Poland and is comprised of an international staff, three battalions, and specialized units; units affiliated with the multinational brigade remain within the structures of the armed forces of their respective countries until the brigade is activated for participation in an international operation |
Military expenditures | |
Military Expenditures 2024 | 4.1% of GDP (2024 est.) |
Military Expenditures 2023 | 3.9% of GDP (2023 est.) |
Military Expenditures 2022 | 2.2% of GDP (2022) |
Military Expenditures 2021 | 2.2% of GDP (2021) |
Military Expenditures 2020 | 2.2% of GDP (2020) |
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