Speaking at the 34th International Defence Industry Exhibition (MSPO) in Kielce, Nawrocki said Poland needs to prepare not just for the wars of today but for conflicts still to come, pointing to Ukraine's battlefield as a preview of what's ahead.
"The Polish state must prepare not only for today's war or the one that may come tomorrow, but above all for the war of the future", he said.
This year's exhibition drew more than 1,200 exhibitors from 43 countries, with Polish companies making up 41% of participants — a showing Nawrocki cited as proof of the country's deepening defense industrial base. He noted Poland already ranks among Europe's leaders by conventional measures, spending close to 5% of GDP on its armed forces.
But traditional metrics only go so far, he argued. "Today, the potential of the Polish state, and of any sovereign state in Europe, is also determined by the ability and agility to adapt new drone technologies, to adopt and implement unmanned vessels", Nawrocki said, adding that Polish suppliers are helping put the country "at the forefront" of unmanned aerial vehicle development.
As evidence, he pointed to two homegrown systems: the P-18PL radar, built on Polish technology and licensing, and the WB Group's Gladius II system, which incorporates lessons drawn from the fighting in Ukraine. He also highlighted "Głuptak" ("Gannet"), an unmanned underwater vehicle built at Gdansk University of Technology that he said is ready to clear mines — one example, he said, of untapped potential sitting in Polish universities and startups.
That potential is going to waste, Nawrocki suggested, because government bureaucracy can't keep pace with innovation.
"We face a certain threat tied to the fact that the pace of change on the battlefield is so rapid that state administration, along with formal and legal procedures, often can't keep up with implementing solutions developed at Polish academies, technical universities or startups", he said, calling the gap between concept and prototype "a lesson to be learned" by Poland's entire political class — one that needs to close "significantly faster".
On weapons procurement, Nawrocki called for balancing domestic production with cooperation from NATO allies such as the United States, Britain, France, Turkey and Canada, this year's exhibition partner nation.
"Poland's defense industry must have full opportunities to develop, so that technologies, production lines and jobs remain in Poland", he said, while adding that Warsaw remains open to importing equipment "in areas where purchasing equipment from abroad is faster and more advantageous for our shared security".
The exhibition, now in its 34th year, runs through Sept. 11.
(jh)
Source: PAP