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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Polish state defence group Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) has entered into a strategic partnership with British maufacting giant BAE Systems to produce 155mm artillery shells.
The agreement will involve BAE Systems “transferring technology and know-how to PGZ”, with the Polish firm responsible for manufacturing the ammunition in Poland at a new munitions factory, construction of which will begin this year and is expected to be completed by 2027 or 2028.
The British firm says the arrangement will help “strengthen [Poland’s] indigenous supply chain, reducing dependency on overseas suppliers and creating 100s of highly skilled jobs”. Neither BAE Systems nor PGZ have revealed the financial terms of the deal.
We’ve entered into a strategic partnership with @PGZ_pl to establish a new 155mm artillery ammunition manufacturing facility in Poland.
🇬🇧 🤝 🇵🇱
Read more 🔗 https://t.co/hqHkxnkKu3 pic.twitter.com/yHT6Sa8I8N
— BAE Systems (@BAESystemsplc) September 12, 2025
Polish Prime Minister Tusk welcomed the news, saying that the agreement would give PGZ subsidiary Dezamet – whose production facilities he visited today – access to “the most advanced technology, thanks to which we will be able to radically increase the production of 155mm shells”.
He noted that the partnership is just one part of broader plans by his government to ramp up production of large-calibre shells to 130,000 annually within two years.
That ammunition is used by Poland’s self-propelled howitzers, the South Korean K9 and the domestically produced Krab, which combines a K9 chassis, BAE Systems turret, and a Polish-designed gun.
Tusk also welcomed the new deal as evidence of the growing cooperation between Poland and the UK, with BAE Systems also highlighting that it “builds on the UK government’s aspiration of an even closer relationship with Poland”.
In May, the head of then-President Andrzej Duda’s National Security Bureau caused concern when he warned that Poland only has enough ammunition to defend itself “for a week or two” if it were attacked by Russia. However, his claims were rejected as untrue by the government.
Nevertheless, Poland has moved to ramp up production of ammunition. Late last year a, special law was passed granting defence firms up to 3 billion zloty to invest in such production, notes the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
In June, Tusk attended the opening of a new production hall by defence firm Mesko, which is also part of PGZ, that will help increase its production of small-calibre ammunition fivefold, from 50 million to 250 million pieces a year.
The government has also significantly increased Poland’s defence budget, which rose to around 4.5% of GDP this year – by far the highest level in NATO – and is set to grow further to 4.8% of GDP in 2026.
Poland has been allocated €43.7bn to support defence spending under a new EU programme.
That makes the country by far the biggest recipient of the EU-backed loans, receiving "a larger share than France, Italy and Spain combined", celebrated @donaldtusk https://t.co/g1P25Egg9R
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) September 9, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: BAE Systems (press materials)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
