Revolution in the Polish Armed Forces: Details revealed

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland have begun implementing a strategic document that defines the target size of the military and sets priorities for technical modernization in the Polish Armed Forces.

As reported by the spokesman for the General Staff, Col. Marek Pietrzak, the current version of the plan is an update of the document covering a 15-year planning period, adopted in 2019. The changes made primarily take into account the aggressive policy of the Russian Federation and lessons learned from the war in Ukraine.

Seven priorities

The plan is built around seven priority areas of transformation for the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland. They are:

• "quality multiplied by quantity," i.e., making innovation a key factor in combat while simultaneously increasing the size of the Polish Armed Forces. According to the plan, by 2039 the strength of the Armed Forces is to grow to 500,000 soldiers (300,000 in active service, 200,000 in the reserve);
• multidomain operations and the development of military competencies across all five domains and operational environments;
• building and maintaining a sufficient pool of qualified personnel reserves, which are intended not only as an additional deterrent but — in the event of a high-intensity conflict — to ensure prolonged defence;
• development of integrated missile, air defence and counter-drone defence (deterrence by denial);
• wide deployment of unmanned and autonomous systems;
• air dominance and deep, precision strike capability;
• artificial intelligence to support analytical, planning and management processes in the Polish Armed Forces.

The listed points are intended to bring about a change in the deterrence paradigm „through developing capabilities for deterrence by punishment — effective strike systems capable of neutralizing an opponent’s centers of gravity and carrying out precise strikes.”

Two classified documents

As Col. Pietrzak indicates, the plan is based on two overarching classified documents. These are the „Main Directions for the Development of the Armed Forces and Their Preparations for the Defence of the State,” adopted by the President of the Republic of Poland, and the „Detailed Directions for the Reconstruction and Technical Modernization of the Armed Forces,” approved by a resolution of the Council of Ministers on December 11, 2024. The Armed Forces Development Program itself was adopted at the end of December 2025.