The U.S. provides Poland with a $2 billion Foreign Military Financing direct loan for arms purchases

9 July, 2024 M142 HIMARS of the Polish Army. July 2023. Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Poland

The United States provided Poland with a £2 billion Foreign Military Financing direct loan to purchase American weapons. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated this on Monday, July 8.

This is the second financial agreement with Poland to provide a direct loan to support the NATO ally's efforts to modernize its defense forces. The document notes that Poland is a staunch ally of the United States, and this agreement will further strengthen NATO's eastern flank. It is emphasized that Poland is undertaking a major military modernization program, including purchases of U.S. defense equipment such as F-35 aircraft, Patriot missile systems, and Abrams main battle tanks.

Launch of the PAC-2/GEM-T anti-aircraft missile (against ballistic missiles) at a test site in the United States

Poland hosts thousands of U.S. and Allied forces, including U.S.

V Corps Headquarters (Forward) in Poznan. It is noted that Poland's defense spending now amounts to 4% of its GDP, which is the highest among NATO members. The U.S. government is providing up to £60 million in Foreign Military Financing to subsidize the interest rate cost of this loan, which will help accelerate Poland's defense modernization by supporting urgent procurements of defense articles and services from the United States.

Foreign Military Financing direct loans are a security cooperation tool reserved for some of the United States' most important security cooperation partners. Loan proceeds will further advance Poland's military modernization effort. A previous £2 billion loan agreement with the US was signed in September 2023.

Polish M1A1 FEP Abrams.

Source: Polish Army

At the end of June, Poland received the last batch of M1A1 FEP Abrams main battle tanks before the delivery of the latest M1A2 SEP V3 version.