While it receives scant attention in the American media, one European nation within the NATO alliance has made a decision to become the premier military power in continental Europe. It is not Germany, France or the United Kingdom. It is Poland. Poland has authorized massive purchases of heavy weaponry and it is also determined to build more powerful weapons domestically.

Poland is going on a shopping spree for new, modern weaponry to be supplied by …South Korea. South Korea’s growing role as a global weapons supplier has not been well-publicized but it is a fact. The first link reports Poland has made an initial order to South Korea for 180 tanks, 212 howitzers and 48 warplanes. The link also reports that Poland announced it will deploy the first shipment of South Korean weaponry to its Eastern border, which faces Belarus and Russia. No doubt, Poland has seen what is happening in Ukraine and it is determined to make itself a “hard target” for Russian aggression. The second link and third link report that the first shipment of South Korean tanks and howitzers arrived in Poland in early December of last year, so it is reasonable to assume the first arrivals of South Korean weaponry have already been deployed. Those links also report that Poland has vastly increased its initial orders for South Korean weaponry. They have boosted their order to 800 more South Korean tanks and 648 howitzers–a huge increase in Poland’s armored forces. This means the Polish armed forces will not just increase–they will multiply. Poland’s deal with South Korea also calls for Poland to co-produce South Korea’s tanks and howitzers within a few years so there will be lots of follow-on cooperation with South Korea and joint production of this military hardware with South Korea. Poland also reportedly ordered 32 Italian military helicopters and 366 American-made M1 Abrams tanks and unspecified numbers of European-made missiles.

The fourth link is a story from Politico, a Leftist American media source. I don’t usually cite Leftist sources, but I will do so when they have germane information for my blog topic, and this report does have such information. It asserts that “Poland has what is arguably Europe’s best army. And its only going to get stronger.” What is remarkable news is that Poland has decided to boost its military spending to 5% of GDP. Remember when President Trump, seeing the weakness of the NATO forces, forcefully called on NATO nations to boost their spending up to 2% of GDP? A few nations in NATO did boost their defense spending, but Germany–one of the biggest economies in NATO, is NATO’s “weak link” with a military force that greatly underperforms its potential within the NATO alliance. Germany is struggling to get up to 2% of GDP in its NATO spending. This link also adds that Poland already has American-made F-16s in its air force and is ordering 32 F-35 warplanes, and adds that Poland’s order for South Korean weaponry has reached $10-12 billion. This link is written from a leftist perspective so it criticizes Poland for its conservative policies being a problem in its relationships with other EU nations. The article does not mention that Leftists control the EU’s leadership so Poland looks conservative when viewed through the Leftist lens of the EU leaders.  The link mentions the USA supports Poland’s military expansion program.

The fifth link reports that Poland has decided to “become a tank superpower,” and that within a few years, Poland will have more tanks than the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium combined! Please read that last sentence again and ponder what it means. Clearly, it shows Poland has decided to become a military powerhouse, and its current weapons purchases are taking major steps to make that happen. The world is beginning to take notice. 

It is clear that Poland has looked at the flaccid defense policies of most European nations and it has decided to be able to “go it alone” when it comes to national defense. Poland sees that the European NATO nations were slow to respond to Russia’s destructive war against Ukraine, so Poland is preparing to defend itself without NATO help if necessary. I applaud the Polish decision. When one looks at history, Poland has been historically invaded from the east or west by attackers who occupied and divided Poland (most recently Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union did that to Poland in World War II). Poland has evidently decided that it must see to its own defense by becoming powerful enough to deter any invasion by Russia. The new modern weaponry being bought or made by Poland are prodigious for a nation the size of Poland. Poland has clearly made a decision to punch above its weight in military power. It is my personal observation that Poland’s military build-up is so large that it is also intentionally increasing its strength to help the Baltic nations defend themselves against any Russian attack.

The above reports detail Poland’s conventional weapons expansion, but there is no mention of any plans by Poland to build nuclear weapons. However, there is an interesting speculative possibility. Earlier in January, I wrote a post on the increasing cooperation between South Korea and the UAE and the possibility that those two nations are working on a joint nuclear program. That post cited reports that South Korea has already built four nuclear power plants in the UAE–a rather odd development considering that the UAE is rich in oil-based energy and does not need nuclear power. That post also reported that South Korean special forces are already deployed to the UAE. Given that South Korea and the UAE are cooperating on nuclear facilities and that Poland is becoming a major conventional weapons partner with South Korea, it is possible that Poland will become a third member of the South Korean-UAE nuclear partnership.

It is clear that the global alliances among nations are under increasing strain and that they may be rearranged in the future. In an increasingly warlike world (a condition prophesied for the latter days in Matthew 24:6), it is my opinion that the alliance most likely to be split apart and rearranged is the EU–an organization without any meaningful military forces to sustain itself. In previous posts I have referred to the “seven heads and ten horns” of Revelation 13 and 17-18 which will, in the future, overthrow the current global political/financial/monetary order. It is not clear if this cryptic description pertains to leaders or nations or both. However, I do want to leave readers with the realization that the “seven heads and ten horns” are not a parallel to any of the alliances mentioned in Ezekiel 38-39. The Ezekiel 38-39 prophecy applies to the very end of the latter days when World War III will be raging and when God’s “presence” comes to the earth (Ezekiel 38:20). The time when the “seven heads and ten horns” will overthrow the current world order is at the very beginning of the beast power’s reign, which is foretold to be 42 months (Revelation 13:5). The “seven heads and ten horns” may include nations which are temporarily cooperating to overthrow the current global system but which will later be fighting each other in the eventual World War III prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39. For a full examination of the biblical prophecies about the climactic World War III which will occur at the very end of the latter days, I invite you to read my article/research report entitled: What Ezekiel 38-39 Reveal about a Future World War III.  To confirm that we are living in the biblically-prophesied latter days, I urge you to read my article, Are We Living in the Biblical Latter Days?

Keep your eyes on Poland’s prodigious military build-up. If the EU or the NATO alliance ever disintegrate, a number of European nations will want to be allied to Poland’s growing military power. Poland is acquiring so much new, modern weaponry that it will literally grow stronger with each passing month. Poland is about to join the first-tier nations in terms of conventional military power. This will affect the future of Europe in ways that we cannot yet know. Poland has chosen to become the master of its own destiny. It has decided to become a strong military power no matter what the other nations of Europe choose to do.

 

  1. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-expected-buy-skorean-rocket-launchers-after-tank-howitzer-sales-2022-10-19/
  2. https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/12/07/poland-shipment-south-korean-weapons/
  3. https://www.armyrecognition.com/defense_news_december_2022_global_security_army_industry/poland_receives_first_batch_of_10_k2_pl_tanks_from_south_korea.html
  4. https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-military-superpower-poland-army/amp/
  5. https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a41020305/poland-becoming-tank-superpower/