Poland jumped up by four places in the Global Firepower ranking of the world’s most powerful militaries compared with last year.  

The 2023 edition of the ranking is once again topped by the US, followed by Russia, China, India, and the UK. The remaining countries in the top 10 are South Korea, Pakistan, Japan, France, and Italy. In the meantime, Ukraine climbed from 22nd to 15th place in the international ranking. 

Poland moves up in the Global Firepower rankinghttps://t.co/Z2OlCbGHRv

— Poland Daily 24 (@polanddaily24) January 13, 2023

The Global Firepower classification takes over 60 factors into consideration to establish a nation’s military strength, not the least of which is the number of military units. The ranking is also based among other things on each country’s potential capability to wage war on land, sea, and air using conventional means.

https://twitter.com/NewVoiceUkraine/status/1611296328847446016?s=20&t=cVUH5SpUBN_meB9D3dbRYQ

The fact that Poland went up in the ranking is by no means a surprise. Last spring, Warsaw signed a 23 billion zloty (€4.9 billion) deal for 250 Abrams tanks from the U.S. this spring. Poland also signed a $4.6 billion deal for 32 F-35 fighters two years before. 

Poland also recently ordered over $10 billion worth of weaponry from South Korea. The deals include 200 K9 Thunder howitzers, 48 FA-50 light attack aircraft, 180 K2 Black Panther tanks, and 218 K239 Chunmoo rocket launchers.

Back in July, Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak announced that his country has ambitions of having “the most powerful land forces in Europe.” As a result, Warsaw is to raise its target defence spending from 2.4% of its GDP to as much as 5%. The country is purchasing military equipment from the USA, the UK, and South Korea among others.

By 2035, the country aims to spend an unprecedented 524 billion zloty on the military.

Image: iStock

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen