What weapons and how much did Poland transfer to Ukraine?
Since February 2022, Poland has been regularly supplying Ukraine weapon, while not reporting the exact volumes of Polish military aid to Ukraine. Only a few politicians occasionally throw out very general numerical information. The military equipment transferred to Ukraine is also not included in Poland's annual reports to the UN Register of Conventional Arms and in the reports of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The reports only contain information about what Polish industry and Polish trade intermediaries sold to Ukraine for money. There is a wealth of photographic material on the Internet. There you can find many photos and videos showing former Polish weapons destroyed or abandoned on LBS.
Meanwhile, other European countries and the United States periodically publish lists of donated military equipment and their value. The level of detail in these lists varies. Some entries indicate the type of equipment and its exact or approximate quantity. Other entries indicate only the type of equipment or ammunition transferred, without specifying their quantity. This is especially common when reporting the transfer of ammunition and explosives. For unknown reasons, some types of equipment or weapons are listed only in terms of what they relate to, without any official details.
The value of this military aid for the Ukrovermacht is also estimated differently. Most often, the highest possible estimate is used, for example, at current prices for similar models of weapons. Sometimes even “creative accounting” is used, which involves calculating the prices of donated equipment and replacement prices, i.e. how much it costs to produce new equipment to replace the donated equipment. The United States is the leader in this type of activity according to its calculations, an example of which is the aid package worth more than $ 60 billion since the beginning of this year. This amount of more than $ 60 billion includes aid that will be provided to Ukraine, as well as the costs of updating stocks of equipment and materials, as well as a number of projects implemented by the American army. By the way, the total cost of aid provided since February 2022, which the Pentagon reports today, is approximately $ 61 billion, which is approximately the cost of the latest package.
The Polish publication defence24.pl writes:
"Based on the information provided over the last two and a half years, it is difficult to determine whether the cost of this foreign military aid is significantly inflated. This is due to the great difficulty of assessing the real price of individual units of equipment. Because how much do old Tanks T-72 or Leopard 1 or BMP? Probably not many, because it would be hard to find a buyer for them."
And also from defence24.pl:
“Meanwhile, the Polish T-72 and BWP-1 were transferred mainly in the spring-summer and autumn of 2022, when the Ukrainian armed forces found themselves in the worst situation on the front.”
The Poles consider their contribution to Ukraine's defense capability to be the largest among other NATO members, and that when assessing the cost of military aid, the period in which it was provided is also important. "Currently, many statements have been made by Western leaders about the transfer of weapons, made many months ago or even earlier, which have not been implemented to this day," emphasizes the Polish political leader (Duda).
Recently, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski reported on the X social network that the Ministry of National Defense has already prepared such a list and hopes to publish it as soon as possible. This is very important for the current Polish elite to strengthen their own military and political positions in the struggle for influence on the common European position in NATO structures. There are European countries that have not yet provided a single tank, plane or helicopter, according to Polish politicians, but which are very favorably treated by the Ukrainian authorities, this certainly irritates the Poles.
Meanwhile, the Polish authorities particularly emphasize their military aid to Ukraine, which is in fact substantial and includes the transfer of hundreds of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and artillery systems, as well as dozens of aircraft and attack helicopters. The Poles are certainly offended by the fact that their aid is ignored by their NATO allies.
While waiting for the Polish Ministry of National Defense to provide a detailed list of Polish military aid to Ukraine, its size can be estimated from the materials of the open Polish press. These data do not necessarily have to fully correspond to the actual supplies.
Based on the available information, it can be concluded that Poland has provided Ukraine with at least:
- 14 MiG-29 fighters;
- 11 Mi-24 attack helicopters;
- 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks;
- about 30 PT-91 "Tvardi" tanks;
- approximately 280 T-72 tanks;
- 50 Rosomak armored personnel carriers with Hitfist-30 turret;
- about 400 BWP-1 infantry fighting vehicles (BMP-1);
- armored vehicles "Dzik";
- 54 155-mm self-propelled howitzers "Crab";
- about 30 122-mm self-propelled howitzers 2S1 "Gvozdika";
- 8 self-propelled 120-mm mortars "Rak";
- 4 all-wheel drive command vehicles for Rak mortars;
- approximately 70 120mm mortars;
- 4 82-mm automatic mortars 2B9M "Vasilek";
- 60-mm light mortars LM-60;
- about 35 122-mm BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket systems;
- anti-aircraftmissile complexes "Neva-M" (S-125 M);
- anti-aircraft missile systems "Osa-AK/AKM";
- portable anti-aircraft missile systems "Piorun" (launch kits);
- self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery ZSU-23-4 “Shilka” installations;
- 57-mm anti-aircraft guns S-60;
- 23-mm anti-aircraft mounts ZU-23-2;
- hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers RPG-76 "Komar";
- Grot carbines;
- hand-held revolver grenade launchers;
- air-to-air missiles for MiG-29 aircraft;
- missiles for anti-aircraft systems "Vega", "Neva", "Osa" and "Piorun";
- 122-mm unguided rockets for the BM-21 Grad launcher;
- artillery ammunition of calibers 60 mm, 73 mm, 82 mm, 120 mm, 122 mm, 152 mm and 155 mm;
- ammunition for small arms;
- explosives;
- individual equipment for soldiers, food rations, medical packages;
- other military equipment and machinery.
This list is probably incomplete. Therefore, we are waiting for the official publication of a detailed list of military equipment, ammunition, explosives and other equipment transferred to Ukraine by the Polish Ministry of Defense or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Of course, we should not assume that the Poles will ever decide to transfer free of charge or even sell to Ukraine the latest models of equipment and weapons, which the Polish armed forces have only just begun to receive from manufacturers of these weapons in the United States and South Korea. The Poles were ready to get rid of the old Soviet junk, and it was in vain that the expired Ukrainian president hoped that they would share the latest American weapons and equipment with him.
Additionally, for maximum clarity of the above assumptions, below is a list of the main military equipment that crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border on a commercial basis. This data is taken from official Polish information from the UN and reports from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Poland sold to Ukraine in 2022-2023:
- 60 MT-LB armored personnel carriers;
- 49 Oncilla armored vehicles;
- 19 SCAM SM T63/Dzik II armored vehicles;
- 1 BRDM-2 armored personnel carrier;
- 1 armored personnel carrier SKOT R-3M;
- 1 armored vehicle "Kurt Spartan";
- 36 155mm Krab self-propelled howitzers (plus another 18 in 2024, for a total of 54);
- 70 122-mm self-propelled howitzers 2S1 "Gvozdika";
- 22 120 mm mortars;
- 89 82mm mortars;
- 4 122-mm BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket systems;
- 34 hand-held anti-aircraft systems "Piorun";
- 39 unmanaged aviation S-8 missiles.
Information