Report: Poland’s arms exports surge amid Ukraine war
Initial figures for Poland’s arms exports in 2024 reveal a surge in deliveries to Ukraine and other international partners, as reported by Defence24 journalist Jarosław Ciślak.
The data, recently submitted to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms, highlight Poland’s growing role in the global defense market, though complete figures will not be available until the Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes its full report later this year.
Since 2022, Warsaw has withheld figures on equipment donated to Ukraine, publishing only commercial sales data from Polish defense companies and intermediaries.
According to the report, the Polish defense industry and arms-trade intermediaries exported 295 armored fighting vehicles of various types to Ukraine in 2024. While the exact types of vehicles remain undisclosed, a significant portion are believed to be Oncilla vehicles.
Huta Stalowa Wola, Poland’s leading artillery manufacturer, sold 18 Krab 155 mm self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine last year. This follows Poland’s donation of 54 Krabs to Kyiv in 2022. The company’s production capacity stood at 18 Krabs per year between 2022 and 2024, with plans to deliver 32 Krabs to the Polish Armed Forces in 2025, the report said.
In addition, Poland supplied Ukraine with 78 2S1 Gvozdika 122 mm self-propelled howitzers and 10 towed D‑44M 85 mm anti‑tank guns in 2024.
Poland also expanded exports of the Piorun shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missile system. In 2024, Mesko delivered 67 Piorun missiles to Estonia, 12 to Latvia, 44 to Moldova, and 40 to Norway. The report noted that Moldova became a new user of the Piorun system last year.
Between 2022 and 2024, Mesko exported a total of:
- 110 Piorun missiles to Norway,
- 96 to Latvia,
- 84 to Estonia,
- 44 to Moldova,
- 34 to Ukraine, and
- 23 to the United States.
An unspecified number of Pioruns were also donated to Ukraine outside of these commercial sales.
On January 12, 2024, Mesko signed a contract with Georgia for the sale of anti-aircraft missiles, believed to be Pioruns. However, deliveries had not begun by the end of 2024, Ciślak reported.
Exports of helicopters from Poland also remained strong. PZL-Mielec, a Polish-based subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, sold 10 S‑70i Black Hawk helicopters to the Philippines and 3 to the United States in 2024. Altogether, between 2011 and 2024, Poland declared exports of 94 helicopters, including 50 to the United States, 26 to the Philippines, 6 each to Turkey and Chile, 5 to Thailand, and 1 to Brunei.
The figures published so far cover only major weapons categories and do not represent the full scope of Poland’s arms exports. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is expected to release a detailed annual report this autumn, which will provide a more comprehensive view of the country’s defense trade.
