Project The Evaluation of the Costs of Maintenance of the Equipment Purchased by Polish Ministry of Defense and Its Long Term Influence on Polish Defense Capabilities implemented as part of the Minigrant [WSMiP.1.2.2023.3(2)] WSMiP: Competition for the development of cooperation with the external environment of the university, 3rd edition aims at prepare, together with experts from an external entity, training for students and teaching, administrative and technical staff of the Faculty of International and Political Studies based on the concept of education through research.

Russia's full-scale invasion on Ukraine has catalyzed the Polish armed forces modernization programmes. Polish Ministry of Defence (MoD) plans to acquire a significant amount of equipment (mainly from the US, as well as South Korea). MoD plans has two main purposes. First one is aimed to fill the 'MBT and SPG gap' - which is a result of Poland's transfer of equipment (including tanks and artillery) to the Ukraine. Second purpose aims to replace post-Soviet weapons systems. This ambitious modernization programme is undertaken primarily in the land and air domains. The overall costs of such wide-scale modernization will be enormous (purchasing equipment combined with maintaining and upgrading costs). The long-terms maintenance costs are often overlooked in the debate related to the modernization process of the Polish Armed Forces, meanwhile it is estimated that these costs amount to between 40 to even more 60% of the total expenditures. In fact, the long-term costs of maintaining combat systems could be a serious challenge to Poland's public finances, especially in the era of an aging population.

The aim of the project is to establish cooperation with the DEFENCE24 think-tank, as well as to collect and systematize data related to the long-term maintenance costs of chosen combat platform. The outcomes of the project are analyses published in Defence24.pl portal, as well as the data which could help to prepare a paper for journal indexed in SCOPUS. This program is part of the POB Future Society domain, domain II, sub-domain 4 (contemporary security threats, evolution of international order and new balance of power in international relations). The short-term outcome will be the establishment of cooperation with think-tank; the long-term effect is a publication in a journal.