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Military power of Poland & Ukraine
Poland vs Ukraine
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Poland is a country located in Central Europe with an area of 312,679 km2 (land boundries: 2,865 km and costline 440 km). The capital of Poland is Warsaw. The number of inhabitants is 38,268,000.
Poland joined NATO in 1999 and hosts US-led multi-national NATO ground force battlegroup since 2007. The inventory of the Polish Armed Forces consists of a mix of Soviet-era and more modern Western weapons systems. Poland announced in March 2022 plans to increase the size of its armed forces to 300,000 personnel and to allocate at least 3% of GDP to defense. Modernization plan would include such items as 5th generation combat aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, rocket artillery, helicopters, submarines and frigates.
More about Poland militaryUkraine is a country located in Eastern Europe with an area of 603,500 km2 (land boundries: 5,581 km and costline 2,782 km). The capital of Ukraine is Kiev. The number of inhabitants is 41,487,960.
During the 2008 Bucharest summit, NATO declared that Ukraine would eventually become a member of NATO when it meets the criteria for accession. In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian military is equipped mostly with older Russian and Soviet-era weapons systems. Ukraine has a broad defense industry capable of building Soviet-era land systems and maintaining and upgrading Soviet-era combat aircraft, as well as missile and air defense systems.
More about Ukraine militaryIf you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com
Military expenditures
 PL |  UA | |
|---|---|---|
| Military budget: | 40 billion $ | 31 billion $ |
| Percent of GDP: | 4.7% | 16% |
Manpower
| PL | UA | |
|---|---|---|
| Active personnel: | 200,000 | 1,250,000 |
| Reserve personnel: | 150,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Available for military: | 10,500,000 | 11,149,646 |
Land Forces
| PL | UA | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanks: | 601 | 1,462 | |
| Armoured fighting vehicles: | 2,417 | 5,739 | |
| Total artillery: | 773 | 3,636 | |
| Self-propelled artillery: | 585 | 899 | |
| Rocket artillery: | 188 | 693 |
Air Forces
| PL | UA | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total aircraft: | 481 | 297 | |
| Fighter aircraft: | 13 | 57 | |
| Multirole aircraft: | 60 | 0 | |
| Attack aircraft: | 18 | 27 | |
| Helicopters: | 212 | 115 | |
| UCAV (combat drone): | 24 | 12 |
Navy
| PL | UA | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total naval: | 66 | 53 | |
| Aircraftcarriers: | 0 | 0 | |
| Destroyers: | 0 | 0 | |
| Frigates: | 2 | 1 | |
| Corvettes: | 2 | 0 | |
| Submarines: | 1 | 0 |
☢ Nuclear weapons
Poland
Does not have nuclear weapons.
Ukraine
Although Ukraine has never produced its own nuclear weapon to this day, we should bear in mind that back in the days, Ukraine possessed approximately 5,000 nuclear weapons. This is all due to the fact that before 1991, Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union. However, as a consequence of its dissolution, all the countries that were satellites or were forcefully attached to Soviet Union, received number of warheads. They were once the property of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, after Ukraine became independent, they received everything that was the part of the USSR, even nuclear warheads. As a result of that, Ukraine became the third largest holder of nuclear weapons in the world.
Ukraine decided to get rid of these weapons quite quickly. Three years later, in 1994 that is, they joined Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In 1996, all the warheads were moved and disassembled in Russia.
Military service
Poland
18-28 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; conscription phased out in 2009-12; service obligation shortened from 12 to 9 months in 2005; women only allowed to serve as officers and noncommissioned officers.
Ukraine
18-27 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation is 18 months
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