Poland Signs $4 Billion US Military Financing Agreement

The United States has agreed to a $4 billion loan to Poland for procuring American-made military equipment, as the eastern European NATO ally seeks to deepen its relationship with Washington.

The U.S. Department of State said on Sept. 9 that the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) loan guarantee agreement brought the total U.S. support to Poland to $20 billion.

“The loan agreement underscores the United States’ unwavering commitment to its strategic partnership with Poland—a relationship built on shared values of freedom, prosperity, and mutual respect,” the office of the spokesman for the Department of State said.

The department said it builds on a May ceremony that marked a new phase in the partnership between the U.S. and Polish air forces, with the delivery of American F-35 fighter jets. In recent years, Poland has also acquired Apache helicopters, Patriot missile systems, radar technologies, and HIMARS light rocket launchers.

Poland’s state development bank, the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), said in a statement that the funds from the agreement—the sixth concluded under the FMF program—will be used to assist in financing existing and new contracts to purchase U.S. defense equipment.

NATO Burden-Sharing

Marta Postula, first vice-president of BGK, said the latest deal demonstrates the close transatlantic defense cooperation between the United States and Poland.

“Obtaining further funds under the FMF also reflects Poland’s serious commitment to sharing the burden of NATO’s collective security,” Postula said. “The preferential terms of the agreement also confirm the Polish development bank’s reputation and the high level of trust in BGK, not only in Europe but also internationally.”

Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamys wrote in a post on X that the FMF funding is crucial for the modernization of his country’s armed forces.

The agreement “strengthens the strategic partnership between Poland and the USA, accelerates the implementation of already concluded contracts—including those for Apache helicopters—and enhances Poland’s defense capabilities,” Kosiniak-Kamys said. “No one in Europe or NATO invests as much in its own and collective security as our country does.”

According to NATO’s official estimates, Poland will have spent 4.68 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense in 2026—putting it among the highest spenders by GDP, behind only Latvia (4.92 percent), Estonia (5.10 percent), and Lithuania (5.33 percent).

Poland’s Partnership in Defense

Poland, which is on the eastern flank of NATO, has been among the defense union’s most enthusiastic supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for allies to commit more to spending on defense, backing the president early on for members to increase their spending share from 2 percent to 5 percent of GDP.

Poland then, in June, formally requested new permanent U.S. military bases, with Polish Deputy Defense Minister Pawel Zalewski announcing last month that Krakow and the Pentagon were discussing the option.

“A permanent U.S. presence would reflect America’s long-term strategic interest in the country, not merely respond to the recent activities of Russia,” Zalewski said.