Lord Robbo pulls out a plum

   When Nato Secretary-General Lord George Robertson told Polish reporters he was glad to have arrived safely in Moscow last week, the comment was not intended as a rare attempt at humor by the Scotsman. A busy timetable that included high-level crisis talks in Macedonia is one thing, but to confuse a member of NATO with the auld enemy is quite another.

   Unfortunately, there's also little to joke about when discussing Poland's ongoing reforms to its antiquated armed forces. There is still a long way to go if the country is to become one of NATO's regional bastions, but the problem is finding the money.

   According to a Defense Ministry report a few years ago, 90% of all communications equipment was almost unusable, only 24% of the hardware used by the ground army was fit for service and 70% of all artillery pieces belonged in museums, including a howitzer still sporting a 1937 design.

   Clearly, any changes from that are bound to be an improvement. Also, these ongoing reforms envisage a slimmed-down standing army and the government continues to reduce the number of army units to 180,000 professional soldiers from more than 215,000. But this new-look, smaller army will be a blow to many young men in the provinces who see the military as their only hope against long-term unemployment.

   Meanwhile, foreign companies are falling over themselves to supply Poland with high-technology weaponry. The biggest deals currently being discussed are the supply of a new generation of fighter aircraft. Rival aircraft manufacturers BAE Systems of the U.K. and the U.S.' Lockheed Martin (LM) are both positioning themselves for the lucrative $3 billion contract.

   Sweeteners are coming thick and fast. BAE has already signed a 10-year contract worth $30 million with Polskie Zaklady Lotnicze (PZL) to manufacture parts for Raytheon 800 corporate jets. LM, on the other hand, is offering the government its used F-16s until it starts production on new jets.

   As the discussions continue to see who will be the winner of the airforce upgrade program, backroom deals and sideline packages will inevitably proliferate.

   But updating the airforce is not even included in the government's spending budget and additionally it recently approved a $26.3 billion draft bill to update the army by 2006.

   The problem is finding the funds. Even the Defense Ministry admits it doesn't know where the money will come from. With continuing wrangles over European Union accession and worries over sluggish economic growth and rising unemployment, government ministers should think about how many balls they can juggle at once before courting the geographically confused NATO leader.