Solidarity With NATO

Poland has bought or been licensed to buy at least $74 million in arms from the U.S. since 1993. Just months away from its admission to NATO (slated for April 1999), Poland faces complexx issues in upgrading its antiquated, Soviet-era technology to the level of its future NATO allies.

Poland is undertaking a major restructuring of its army, air force, and navy to increase interoperability with NATO forces. This means replacing aging fighter planes, upgrading communications systems, and retraining military forces for fast response to emergencies, in accordance with NATO requirements. Poland is also trying to obtain Western equipment and technology that is compatible with its Soviet equipment, but lack of funding prevents the country from doing so as quickly as it might like.

U.S. arms sales in the Clinton years Direct government sales Government-approved sales (scale in millions of dollars)

Since the Cold War, Poland has continued to sell outdated, Soviet-made military equipment to other countries, which has helped to offset the economic depression brought about by the drastic downscaling of its defense industry. But like its fellow NATO rookies, it faces huge new expenses as it attempts to make its military more compatible with that of NATO allies.

NATO membership aside, the U.S. has frowned at reports which contend that Poland continues to sell Soviet equipment to regimes that support terrorism, or are anti-American. As late as summer 1996, Poland was reportedly selling arms to Iran. According to the Washington Times, a top-secret CIA report said that Poland was shipping old Soviet T-72 tanks to Iran. Poland protested that the shipments were the fulfillment of an order that predated its application to join NATO, and that after 1993, it had not signed any new arms-sales contracts with Iran.

-- Monica Mehta

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