The new aircrafts and weapons that Poland has presented on its Armed Forces Day

@DefAviation ES 8·15·2023 · 23:48 0

Every August 15, coinciding with the anniversary of the Battle of Warsaw in 1920, Poland celebrates its Armed Forces Day.

The 1,000 tanks and other modern weapons that Poland has bought to defend itself against Russia
The Polish Air Force receives and evaluates its first FA-50 fighters, the replacement for the MiG-29

This day is usually celebrated with a large military parade. This year's event, held on the great Wisłostrada avenue, was attended by 92 planes, more than 200 vehicles and 2,000 soldiers from the Polish Army and various allied countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Croatia and Romania. In addition, it has been the military parade in which Poland has presented the most new weapons in its entire history, due to the process of purchasing new weapons that the Polish government is carrying out in the face of the threat from Russia .

You can see here the complete military parade broadcast by Polish Radio, a total of 2 hours and 3 minutes of broadcast. The parade begins at the point 1:06:49, approximately, with the order to march:

Below you can see some photos of the parade, published by the Polish Ministry of National Defense and by the 4th Infantry Division United States Army.

One of the most anticipated moments of the parade: the new KAI FA-50 Golden Eagle light fighters received a few days ago by the Polish Air Force, flying alongside one of the MiG-29 fighters they are going to replace (many of them have been delivered by Poland to Ukraine as military aid).

Another image of the new KAI FA-50 Golden Eagle light fighters. They are 5001 and 5002, which we already saw here recently.

Four Aermacchi M-346 Master trainers. They are known as Bielik by the Polish Air Force. Poland received its first M-346s in 2020.

The first AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin of the Polish Navy, a rescue and anti-submarine helicopter. This helicopter was received last week, and three more are waiting to arrive. Next to him we see an AgustaWestland AW149 of the Polish Army Ground Forces. Last year Poland signed the purchase of 32 helicopters of this type.

Leopard 2PL main battle tanks of the Polish Army Ground Forces. These tanks are a modernized Polish version of the German Leopard 2A4. In addition, they have also paraded Leopard 2A5. Significantly, in this year's parade there was no PT-91 Twardy, the Polish version of the Soviet T-72.

The new M-142 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers of the Polish Army. The first five arrived in Poland in May. Poland has ordered a total of 500 HIMARS and more than 9,000 missiles of various guys.

The new K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers of the Polish Army. Made in South Korea, the first 24 were delivered in December 2022. Last year, Poland announced the purchase of 600 of these self-propelled howitzers.

The new K2 Black Panther tanks of the Polish Army. This excellent battle tank is made in South Korea. The first 10 arrived in Poland in December 2022. As we already saw here, in July 2022 Poland announced the purchase of 1,000 K2 tanks, of which 180 will be manufactured in South Korea and 820 will be of the K2PL version, a local version whose production will start in Poland in 2026.

BWP Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles of the Polish Army. Last year, Poland announced the purchase of 588 vehicles of this type, manufactured in Poland by PGZ. They will replace the old BWP-1, the Polish version of the Soviet BMP-1.

KTO Rosomak infantry fighting vehicles of the Polish Army, with the new ZSSW-30 unmanned turrets. Last year Poland announced the purchase of 341 Rosomaks. It is a multipurpose 8x8 armored vehicle manufactured in Poland by Rosomak SA. It is based on the Finnish Patria AMV armored vehicle.

The new M1A1 Abrams tanks of the Polish Army. The first 14 arrived in Poland at the end of June. In total, Poland has acquired 366 Abrams tanks in total: 116 of the M1A1 version and 250 M1A2 SEP v.3. The Polish Army is the first European operator of this tank, and the only one to have tanks manufactured on three different continents. With what we have just seen, Poland is going to have one of the most powerful armored forces in NATO.