Contractors eye booming polish defense market.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin

* As Poland faces threats from a resurgent Russia, the country is seeking new weapon systems to replace its aging equipment. That could be a boon for U.S. defense contractors, analysts said.

Poland--long caught in the crosshairs of some of Europe's bloodiest wars--is looking to shed its Soviet-era weapons platforms and secure a spot as one of NATO's biggest investors in defense systems.

The country has increased its expenditure on its armed forces by a compound annual growth rate of 4.66 percent, making it one of the largest military spenders in Central Europe, according to a study by Research and Markets, an analysis firm.

Poland is expected to spend an estimated $53.5 billion between 2018 and 2022 on defense, the report said.

"This is primarily due to the modernization initiatives implemented by the Polish Ministry of National Defense," it said. "The country's defense expenditure will be driven by a combination of factors including the ongoing turmoil in the neighboring country of Ukraine and an increased involvement in NATO and U.N. peacekeeping missions."

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Ian Brzezinski, a resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, said Russia is the dominant driver of Poland's defense buildup.

"The Polish government has been [an] astute observer of Russia," he told National Defense. When Russian President Vladimir Putin "began his defense modernization drive following Russia's sloppy 2008 invasion of Georgia, the Poles saw first hand the evolution and improvement of Russian military capabilities."

Poland was also concerned following large-scale military exercises conducted by Moscow, one of which culminated in a simulated nuclear attack against Poland, he said. Additionally, it was one of those least surprised when Russia invaded Crimea in 2014.

In 2012, Poland launched a 10-year, $40 billion military modernization effort, Brzezinski said. It is currently meeting a NATO recommendation of investing 2 percent of its GDP in defense, and the nation has aspirations to boost that to 2.5 percent, he said.

"Poland presents one of the fastest growing defense markets in Europe," he added. "It's one of the markets that has captured the interest of U.S. and West European defense industry."

It is a "market that rests on a crossparty commitment to military modernization," Brzezinski said. "Poland is committing real financial resources to this plan. And it is driven--unfortunately--by a...