Deputy Minister of National Defence Cezary Tomczyk announced greater engagement of Polish defence manufacture in the improvement of innovative technologies for the military. To this end, a fresh unit in the army will be set up to test and measure fresh equipment and innovative solutions proposed by national manufacturers.
W Military method Academy The 5th Armed Forces Innovation Forum was held. During the beginning of the conference, Brig. Gen. Prof. Przemysław Wachulak, Rector-Commander of the Military method Academy, stressed the importance of cooperation between scientists, military and industry. – In order to effectively deter the opponent and defend Poland, we must build on strong alliances, but besides make and implement our own sovereign technologies. It is simply a joint work of investigation centres, universities and industry, which together make the defence possible of the country – said the Rector of WAT.
Innovation and security
Innovation, especially in the defence sphere, is now an component of sovereignty. They utilized to say you either have an army or individual else. I'll add: either you have your innovation or individual else's. And if you have one, then you have jobs, technologies, improvement and the future – said Cezary Tomczyk in his speech at the beginning of the conference at WAT. He pointed out that the state budget had planned defence spending of PLN 200 billion. In addition, Poland can benefit from respective tens of billions of euros under the European SAFE Programme, the first always European Union programme to remilitarise the continent. “These are gigantic measures, but it is only up to us how we spend them,” said the Deputy Minister.
According to Tomczyk, now the key question is to buy or invent and produce innovative weapons. – It is easy to spend money on the acquisition of equipment, but the real challenge is to spend it wisely – so that technologies stay in Poland and fuel home innovation and the economy," he added.
From Plans to Implementation
However, the road from plans to invest in Polish manufacture to their implementation is inactive not easy. The Deputy Head of the MON pointed to barriers that block the introduction of national solutions to the service and announced actions to shorten and simplify the investigating and purchasing procedures. "I was very amazed 2 years ago erstwhile it turned out that the process of obtaining equipment developed by Polish manufacture or military institutes was actually impossible," said Tomczyk and pointed out the request for systemic changes.
The Deputy Minister noted that the problem was not the deficiency of good projects, but the fact that many of them had previously been stuck in long and complex administrative procedures that had late been updated. We started with changes in the law. This translated into Decision No 123 of the Minister of National Defence, introducing a series of military tests. In fresh days, respective twelve companies have come to the ministry ready to hand over their equipment for investigating by the Polish Army – said the politician.
Test unit and shortening of procedures
The fresh test unit of the Polish Army is to be the place where prototypes and modern solutions from both Poland and abroad will be sent. “We want soldiers to find what works and what does not,” said Tomczyk. As a result, Polish institutes and companies will receive clear feedback, and effective solutions will be able to get to the equipment of the units more quickly.
Deputy Chief of the Ministry argued that shortening the way from prototype to operation and leaving the decision to acquisition the military would increase the pace of innovation and strengthen the technological sovereignty of Poland. He pointed out that 1 of the priorities of the MON is to make national unmanned systems that reduce individual losses. – Equipment can be bought, but the lives of soldiers cannot be recovered. Unmanned are so an absolute priority," he stressed.
The deputy chief of the MON besides talked about the construction of the Centre of Autonomous Systems (OSA), which will combine the possible of Polish investigation institutes and manufacture with the needs of the military. OSA is to become an area of cooperation between technological institutions, companies and armies. As he pointed out, the decision to make specified a facility comes straight from the experiences of the war in Ukraine, where the fast integration of manufacture with the army was crucial for effective action.
Own funds and support for start-ups
The Minister stressed the request to make a national defence innovation fund that would enable strategical investment in selected technology capacities. He mentioned young companies and start-ups, which frequently make solutions with advanced export potential. – While International Defence manufacture Salon I met students of Poznan University of Technology in Kielce who built a drone with a jet engine. This shows that in the country we have people creating technologies at a global level. The state must have the tools to support them," he noted. As an example, the deputy chief of MON gave the company ICEYEwhich in cooperation with the Polish Army will launch the first Polish ISAC radar satellites. – In November of this year they will be in orbit. Even a fewer years ago specified a company would not have the conditions for improvement in Poland. present we change it," he added.
Tomczyk besides pointed out the increasing importance of artificial intelligence in the modern battlefield. He recalled that in Poland, an AI implementation centre is being created in cyberspace defence troops, and MON is working with the National Centre for investigation and improvement on projects for applicable usage of AI. – We cannot limit ourselves to strategy on paper. We request to usage AI in action – on the front and in the operating area – he pointed out.
The drone war requires fresh solutions
One of the topics of the 5th Armed Forces Innovation Forum was Ukraine's experience in utilizing Unmanned On the battlefield. Experts wondered how these solutions could be utilized in developing unmanned systems in the Polish army.
The key challenge present is not to build up equipment supplies, but to make a flexible, modern production strategy that allows fast production of drones in an emergency situation, have been stated by the invited guests. Therefore, Poland should focus on building the capacity to rapidly start production and adapting platforms to changing operational needs. The experts at the conference besides stressed that investments in drone technologies must be considered not only as a acquisition of equipment but as a strategical investment in production, engineering and plan competences. Only this approach will guarantee a lasting advantage and a real preparedness in crisis situations.
