A short distance north from Warsaw along the Vistula river, camouflaged missile launchers roll through the quiet village of Czosnów.
As recently as two years ago, their destination – a hi-tech weapons facility opened this month – had been a cornfield. Now, as Poland drives up defence investment at one of the fastest rates in the developed world, this rural spot has been transformed amid Europe’s response to Russian aggression and US disengagement.
“Everyone has had to move twice as fast to meet the Polish needs,” says Jim Price, the managing director of MBDA Polska, the local subsidiary of the European multinational arms group. Based in the UK, the former Royal Marine says Poland is shifting from importing its weapons to manufacturing them at home.
“When it became clear there is a need to defend Nato’s eastern flank, in the event of a war itself, they needed to be able to…
