On June 1, Mariusz Błaszczak, Polish Defense Minister, announced that the country’s authorities had concluded an agreement with the Polish Armaments Group (Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa SA) to purchase a large amount of artillery ammunition for the needs of the Polish Army.

The Ministry of Defense of Poland announced this on Twitter.

“The experience of the war in Ukraine makes it clear that artillery plays a key role, both from the standpoint of effective defense and attack methods,” Błaszczak said.

The Armaments Agency believes that within this contract, the country will purchase “a record amount, estimated at hundreds of thousands, of various types of 155 mm artillery ammunition.”

The agreement also mentions the possibility of purchasing special training ammunition and other related training equipment. In addition, the contract assumes the possibility of purchasing 120 mm ammunition.

“We aim for the Polish arms industry to be able to produce one million rounds of ammunition yearly. This is a big challenge, but also an absolute necessity to ensure the security of Poland,” Błaszczak tweeted today.

This agreement is part of the implementation of the goals of the multi-year “National Ammunition Reserve” program, approved in Poland in March 2023. This program should create the conditions to replenish large-caliber ammunition stocks of the Polish Armed Forces between 2023 and 2029.

During his visit to the USA from April 11 to 13 this year, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced that, to implement this program, the government is ready to allocate over half a billion dollars to increase ammunition production capacity and another three billion dollars to purchase ammunition.

Thus, the total amount of program funding is more than PLN 14 billion. Mariusz Błaszczak explains that this number of ammunition is necessary considering the situation in Ukraine.

“Why do we need a large number? Because several tens of thousands of munitions are used in Ukraine daily. Therefore, our order covers hundreds of thousands, but we can also talk about a million units of ammunition, which will be manufactured by the Polish arms industry,” Błaszczak explains.

The agreement primarily covers the purchase of 155mm ammunition. If the increase in production capacity is sufficient, the ammunition will be exported, first of all, to NATO countries.

“If these production capacities increase, and I am sure they will increase within a short time, we will also be able to export ammunition. We are aware of the European and global needs related to the replenishment of reserves and strengthening of the military. We are talking, of course, about NATO countries. (…) I approved the agreement, which is the first stage of the order for hundreds of thousands of 155 mm caliber artillery ammunition, one can say a million ammunition,” Błaszczak clarifies.

The group of companies to jointly manufacture ammunition for the needs of the Polish army includes Zakłady Metalowe Dezamet S.A., Mesko S.A., Zakłady Chemiczne Nitro-Chem S.A., Zakład Produkcji Specjalnej Gamrat, and Bydgoskie Zakłady Elektromechaniczne Belma S.A.