Pending tanker purchase spotlights choice for Poland: buy European or US?

WARSAW, Poland — As the Polish government is advancing efforts to absorb loans from the European Union to finance purchases of new weapons made in Europe, opposition politicians are concerned that reliance on funds from Brussels could draw the country away from defense companies based in the United States.

The development comes as Warsaw considers using a loan to select the Airbus A330 MRTT aircraft over Boeing’s KC-46 for the Polish Air Force.

Under the EU’s Security Action For Europe (SAFE) scheme, the Polish defense budget is to absorb additional funds of around €43.7 billion ($50.7 billion) in low-cost loans. The program is to enable member states to bolster their defense capabilities amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and Poland is set to receive the largest share of the funds.

On Feb. 27, the Polish parliament approved the draft legislation to implement SAFE loans, and President Karol Nawrocki will need to decide this month whether he wants to sign the bill, veto it, or refer it to the country’s Constitutional Tribunal.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose centrist government regularly clashes with right-wing Nawrocki who backs the opposition, is a major proponent of the loan program.

Tusk has claimed the majority of the funds will be injected into the Polish defense sector, with a focus on procurements of innovative gear for the country’s military.

“Significantly more than 80 percent, and these are the opinions of experts, generals and state institutions, will serve Poland and our companies,” Tusk said at a Feb. 27 press briefing. “It will be one of the breakthrough impulses for the development of the Polish economy. The development of the most modern technologies, so satellites, space, cyber, drones and anti-drone systems, will capture 36 percent” of the loans’ value, he said.

Tusk also stated that Poland will continue to purchase weapons from U.S. companies.

“We will be an even better ally thanks to the SAFE program. And those more than 100 billion [dollars] that we intended to spend on equipment and technological capabilities that come from the United States, they will be spent anyway,” the prime minister said.

This year, the Polish government has earmarked around PLN 200.1 billion ($54.2 billion) for defense, up from PLN 186.6 billion budgeted in 2025. This means the nation’s military expenditure could exceed 4.8% of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026.

Poland’s expanding defense budget has driven a shopping spree for new gear, including procurements of tanks , fighter jets , helicopters , missiles and rocket launchers bought from the United States.

While Nawrocki, who was elected president in May 2025 with the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party’s backing, is mulling whether to sign the SAFE bill, the government and the opposition are at odds over the program’s utility for Polish military modernization efforts.

Mariusz Błaszczak, Poland’s former Minister of National Defence who is a PiS lawmaker, told Defense News that, in its current form, SAFE poses risks to Warsaw’s decision-making sovereignty in the field of defense and to the stability of the state’s finances.

“Firstly, we are talking about a loan mechanism, meaning an increase in state debt in a formula that may be subject to additional political and procedural conditions imposed by EU institutions,” Błaszczak said.

“Law and Justice has always held the view that Poland’s security should be built on a strong nation-state, real military capabilities, and a strategic alliance with the United States within NATO, rather than through mechanisms that could restrict our freedom of acquisitions and equipment preferences,” he added.

In the politician’s view, there is also a risk that SAFE loans “will de facto reward specific manufacturers at the expense of the best available technologies. For Poland, the key criteria should be quality and interoperability with NATO, not political correctness in procurement.”

While the Ministry of National Defence has not released a full list of acquisitions that are to be bankrolled by SAFE loans, senior military officials have named the potential purchase of tanker aircraft as one of the key projects.

Maj. Gen. Ireneusz Nowak, the deputy general commander of the Polish Armed Forces, told local news site Defence24.pl at least two Airbus A330 MRTTs are to be purchased with the use of an EU loan. The aircraft is a direct competitor to Boeing’s KC-46 that the U.S. company has pitched to Poland’s Air Force.

Błaszczak said he believes the availability of SAFE loans should not tilt the ministry’s preference towards gear made in Europe if alternative U.S. products offer better capabilities and compatibility.

“We are talking about a choice between the European Airbus A330 MRTT and the American Boeing KC-46 Pegasus. In my opinion, three issues are key to such decisions: interoperability with NATO forces, industrial conditions, and a long-term alliance strategy,” said the opposition lawmaker.

“The Polish military today relies heavily on American equipment: from Patriot systems, through HIMARS, to the F-35. Therefore, the natural direction is maximum compatibility and logistical cohesion,” he added.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——波兰政府正努力吸收欧盟贷款，以资助购买欧洲制造的新武器，反对派政治家担心，依赖布鲁塞尔的资金可能会使该国远离总部位于美国的国防公司。

此事发生之际，华沙方面正在考虑利用贷款为波兰空军选择空客 A330 MRTT 飞机而不是波音 KC-46。

根据欧盟的“欧洲安全行动”（SAFE）计划，波兰国防预算将吸收约437亿欧元（507亿美元）的额外低息贷款。该计划旨在帮助成员国在俄罗斯持续入侵乌克兰的背景下加强国防能力，而波兰将获得其中最大的份额。

2月27日，波兰议会批准了实施SAFE贷款的立法草案，总统卡罗尔·纳沃茨基本月需要决定是否签署该法案、否决该法案，或者将其提交给该国宪法法院。

总理唐纳德·图斯克是该贷款计划的主要支持者，他的中间派政府经常与支持反对派的右翼领导人纳沃茨基发生冲突。

图斯克声称，大部分资金将注入波兰国防领域，重点是为该国军队采购创新装备。

图斯克在2月27日的新闻发布会上表示：“超过80%的贷款，这是专家、将军和国家机构的意见，将服务于波兰和我们的企业。这将是推动波兰经济发展的突破性动力之一。而最先进技术的发展，例如卫星、太空、网络、无人机和反无人机系统，将占用贷款总额的36%。”

图斯克还表示，波兰将继续从美国公司购买武器。

“得益于SAFE计划，我们将成为更好的盟友。我们原本计划花费超过1000亿美元用于购买来自美国的设备和技术能力，这些资金无论如何都会花出去，”总理说道。

今年，波兰政府已拨出约 2001 亿兹罗提（542 亿美元）用于国防，高于 2025 年预算的 1866 亿兹罗提。这意味着到 2026 年，该国的军费开支可能超过其国内生产总值 (GDP) 的 4.8%。

波兰不断扩大的国防预算推动了新装备的采购热潮，包括从美国采购坦克、战斗机、直升机、导弹和火箭发射器。

纳沃茨基在反对党法律与公正党（PiS）的支持下于 2025 年 5 月当选总统，他正在考虑是否签署 SAFE 法案，而政府和反对派在该计划对波兰军事现代化努力的作用问题上存在分歧。

波兰前国防部长、法律与公正党议员马里乌什·布瓦什恰克告诉《防务新闻》，SAFE法案目前的形式对华沙在国防领域的决策主权和国家财政的稳定构成了风险。

“首先，我们谈论的是一种贷款机制，这意味着国家债务的增加，而这一增加的公式可能受到欧盟机构施加的额外政治和程序条件的限制，”布拉什恰克说。

“法律与公正党一直认为，波兰的安全应该建立在强大的民族国家、真正的军事能力以及与美国在北约框架内建立的战略联盟之上，而不是通过可能限制我们采购自由和装备偏好的机制，”他补充道。

这位政治家认为，SAFE贷款也存在这样的风险：“实际上可能会奖励特定制造商，而牺牲最佳可用技术。对波兰而言，关键标准应该是质量和与北约的互操作性，而不是采购中的政治正确性。”

虽然国防部尚未公布将由国家外汇管理局贷款资助的全部采购清单，但高级军官已将潜在的加油机采购列为重点项目之一。

波兰武装部队副总司令伊雷纽什·诺瓦克少将告诉当地新闻网站Defence24.pl，波兰将利用欧盟贷款购买至少两架空客A330 MRTT飞机。这款飞机是波音公司向波兰空军推销的KC-46加油机的直接竞争对手。

布拉什恰克表示，他认为，如果美国替代产品具有更好的性能和兼容性，那么SAFE贷款的可用性不应使该部门对欧洲制造的装备产生偏好。

“我们现在面临的是在欧洲空客A330 MRTT和美国波音KC-46飞马加油机之间做出选择。在我看来，有三个问题对这样的决定至关重要：与北约部队的互操作性、工业条件以及长期联盟战略，”这位反对派议员说道。

“如今波兰军队严重依赖美国装备：从爱国者导弹系统、HIMARS导弹防御系统到F-35战斗机。因此，自然而然的发展方向是最大限度地提高兼容性和后勤衔接性，”他补充道。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。