Poland is rearming itself at high speed — could Canada take a lesson from Warsaw?

A wind-swept pier at a naval port in Gdynia, Poland was the scene last December of an extraordinary display — one that Canada's defence community looks upon today with envy.

Lined up track-to-track on the pier that day, their gun barrels elevated, were two-dozen Thunder K9-A1 self-propelled howitzers manufactured in South Korea. Nearby, 10 Black Panther K2 54-tonne main battle tanks were parked.

The armoured vehicles and big guns represented the vanguard of a $13 billion US blockbuster defence agreement between Warsaw and Seoul.

What made the scene exceptional was the fact the contract between the two nations was signed barely four months before the big tanks and guns rolled onto the pier.

In the defence procurement world, that is light-speed. The deal has been a topic of conversation ahead of the annual Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industry trade show, which begins Wednesday in Ottawa.

South Korea plans to deliver to Poland 180 K2 tanks, 212 K9 howitzers and 288 K239 Chunmoo K-MLRS (Korean Multiple Launch Rocket System) similar to the American-built HIMARS system, which has proven critical to Ukraine's defence in its war with Russia.

And that's only the tip of the iceberg. Eventually, Poland intends to buy up to 1,000 of the South Korean tanks, 688 of the howitzers and 48 FA-50 jet fighters, which can be used as trainers and light combat aircraft.

It is a massive rearmament program, driven partly by Poland's need to replenish stocks of equipment donated to Ukraine and partly by the fear of what might come next should Russia succeed in toppling the government in Kyiv. 

"We decided to do it as quickly as possible because we are the front country," said Tomasz Grodzki, speaker of Poland's Senate, in a recent interview with CBC News.

The speed of Poland's procurement project stands in stark contrast to the pace of military procurement in Canada. Ottawa still has no firm timeline for a plan — announced in March by Defence Minister Anita Anand — to fast-track on an "urgent operational basis" the purchase of portable anti-tank missiles, uncrewed counter-drone systems and ground-based air defence systems for troops in Latvia.

When announced Anand said she expected a staggered delivery of the systems between late 2023 and sometime in 2024 but there is no firm schedule. 

Defence procurement expert Dave Perry chalks it up to the lack of a sense of urgency in Canada.

"Poland is right on the border and I think has a much more clear focus, and much greater sense of urgency, that its troops need equipment, not 10 years, or 15 or 20 years from now, but they need equipment now," said Perry, vice president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. The institute has occasionally hosted conferences sponsored by defence contractors.

"Even the projects that we deem to be urgent requirements seem to just have projects move to the front of a slow-moving line, rather than having any unique or special process to genuinely expedite them to ensure that we get that material into the hands of troops as quickly as possible, or at least for when they're going to need it."