Poland will soon field the largest army in Europe, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on August 15 during Polish Armed Forces Day. Active personnel now exceed 220,000, according to Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz. Government targets run to 500,000, split between 300,000 on active duty and 200,000 in reserve.
Tusk spoke at a naval parade in Gdynia while a ground column moved through Warsaw. Both events fell on the anniversary of the 1920 Battle of Warsaw. Poland is building a force whose size and modern equipment will shape the region, he said, adding that allies have noticed.
How Poland built toward the largest army in Europe
Polish Press Agency put the Warsaw column at around 300 armoured vehicles and close to 2,000 soldiers. More than 60 aircraft flew over the capital. F-35A jets took part, alongside Abrams and Leopard tanks, HIMARS launchers and Patriot systems. Off Gdynia and Gdansk, more than 20 ships joined the naval display. Units from the United States, Britain, Canada, Croatia and Romania marched with Polish troops. President Karol Nawrocki promoted 21 officers to general and admiral ranks before the Polish military parade began.
Polish army size roughly doubled between 2014 and 2025, climbing from about 100,000 to 216,000. That total placed Poland third in NATO by manpower, behind the United States and Turkey. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 accelerated recruitment. A Homeland Defence Act passed in March of that year set the first doubling target. Procurement and reserve expansion followed.
Poland’s defence spending reached about 4.7 percent of GDP in 2025, the highest share in NATO. Plans for 2026 lift it to roughly 5 percent. Kosiniak-Kamysz has put the defence budget near 200 billion zlotys, about 54.7 billion dollars. Funding for the largest army in Europe therefore rests on a rising share of national output. Purchases have leaned heavily on foreign systems, including an order for 32 F-35A jets worth around 4.6 billion dollars, with initial aircraft delivered in May.
What still stands in the way
Reaching the largest army in Europe depends on numbers Warsaw has not yet hit. Half a million personnel is the stated goal, and official planning has pointed to 2039 for the full figure. Kosiniak-Kamysz said in May that Poland would hold the continent’s strongest and best-equipped force by 2030. Russia fields far more active troops than any European state. Ukraine’s wartime force, at an estimated 800,000 to 900,000, is also larger. Inside NATO, Turkey remains ahead with roughly 481,000 personnel.
NATO eastern flank
Polish military strength is central to security along the NATO eastern flank, Tusk said in his address. Russia remains the greatest threat to Poland, Europe and the alliance, according to the prime minister. He also used the speech against domestic critics who argue that Poland’s real problems lie with the European Union, Germany or Ukraine.
Poland borders Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave and Belarus. Any clash on the alliance’s eastern edge would place Polish units closest to the fighting, which explains much of the spending pattern since 2022. Warsaw has spent the past four years buying tanks, artillery and air defence at a pace no other European member has matched.
