WATCH OUT PUTIN: Poland to spend £42 BILLION on its army to counter Russian aggression
POLAND has dramatically ramped up its defence budget to modernise its army amid growing fears of Russian aggression.
Nato force deployed in Poland to combat Putin aggression
Warsaw officials have vowed to boost the country's defence spending by an extra £42.7billion (200bn zloty) over the next 15 years.
The announcement comes just weeks before Russia's army carries out large-scale military exercises in Belarus and western Russia.
Nato is worried the official number of troops participating in the drills, dubbed Zapad, might be understated.
Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance's Secretary General, will visit Poland tomorrow and Friday to check on deployment of US troops there.
Mr Stoltenberg will also meet Polish, Romanian and Turkish government officials.
Poland has lobbied hard for the stationing of Nato troops on its soil, especially since Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Poland has ramped up its defence budget in a warning to Vladimir Putin
The amendment gives us nearly 200bn zlotys over the next 15 years
Deputy defence minister Tomasz Szatkowski said: "The government has approved a legislative amendment which gives us nearly 200bn zlotys over the next 15 years.
"This is not a trivial amount."
The Polish government agreed in June to raise defence spending gradually from two per cent to 2.5 per cent of GDP.
It means annual spending would nearly double to about £17.2bn (80bn zlotys) by 2032.
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will visit Poland tomorrow
Szatkowski is the architect of ambitious plans to increase the size of the Poland's army nearly twofold and revamp its equipment.
Nearly two-thirds of equipment dates from the Soviet era when the country was in the Moscow-led Warsaw Pact.
However, Poland's navy will fare less well from modernisation.
Poland has lobbied hard for the stationing of Nato troops on its soil
The ministry has cancelled the purchase of two classes of surface vessels, including multi-task frigates used to protect other warships.
Higher spending on artillery, engineering or assault helicopters will come at the cost of expanding the airborne forces.
Warsaw plans to acquire fifth-generation fighter jets, but Szatkowski said that this would not happen until the second half of the next decade.
Speaking to Reuters, he added: "Nobody can release from us the obligation of planning and creating a coherent vision and proving there is money for it."