Poland

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Last updated: 11 July 2017

Summary: Non-signatory Poland supports the convention’s humanitarian objectives, but has not taken any steps towards accession. It abstained from voting on a key UN resolution on the convention in December 2016. Poland has participated as an observer at the convention’s meetings, most recently in 2014.

Poland states it sees military utility in cluster munitions, but has never used them in combat. It is a producer of cluster munitions, but has never exported them. In 2009, Poland disclosed information on the types of its stockpiled cluster munitions, but not the quantities.

Policy

The Republic of Poland has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has regularly responded to Cluster Munition Monitor’s request for updated information since 2009. In its most recent response, provided in April 2017, Poland states that it is “currently not in a position to join the convention,” but “recognizes the humanitarian problems caused by [cluster munitions]” and expresses its “support for the humanitarian cause.” Poland repeats its position that the “adoption of the CCM’s [Convention on Cluster Munition’s] obligations would mean a serious weakening of [the country’s] defence capabilities, which is not acceptable in the light of the deteriorated security environment.”[1]

Poland has given several reasons for its lack of accession.[2] In October 2016, Polish officials stated that Poland sees a distinct military purpose for cluster munitions and faces national security concerns.[3] In 2013, a Polish official said the Ministry of Defense considers cluster munitions as a necessary weapon to be used only in “self-defense” and expressed concern at the cost of replacing the cluster munitions stocks with another weapon.[4]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs webpage on cluster munitions says “the Polish position states that cluster munitions causing unacceptable humanitarian consequences, especially without the possibility of self-liquidation or self-neutralization, should be prohibited. On the other hand, we recognize the right of states to use modern, highly reliable cluster munitions for defense purposes.”[5]

In December 2016, Poland abstained from voting on a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which urges states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[6]

At the UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in October 2016, Poland delivered a statement on behalf of itself and other European Union (EU) non-signatories Greece, Estonia, Finland, and Romania that repeated a statement made by the same five states upon abstaining from the vote on the first UNGA resolution on the convention in 2015.[7]

The five countries pledge to “continue to support international efforts aimed at addressing the humanitarian, socioeconomic and security impact of conventional weapons, including cluster munitions, and halting their indiscriminate use, especially when they are directed at innocent and defenceless civilians.”[8] The statement continues, “we support the humanitarian goal of the Convention on Cluster Munitions” but “at the same time, we believe that humanitarian concerns must be balanced with States’ legitimate security concerns and military and defence needs.”

Poland participated in the Oslo Process that led to the creation of the ban convention, but from the outset made it clear that it did not support a comprehensive prohibition on cluster munitions and preferred they be regulated through the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).[9] Poland participated as an observer in both the negotiations of the convention in Dublin in May 2008 and the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008.[10]

Poland participated as an observer in the first three Meetings of States Parties of the convention and in intersessional meetings in 2013 and 2014, but it has not attended any meetings since then.

Poland has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2016.[11]

Poland is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty and in November 2016 formally declared the completion of the destruction of its stockpiled antipersonnel landmines.

Poland is a State Party to the CCW, which its joint statement describes as “the most competent and effective framework for addressing the issue of cluster munitions.”[12] Poland has not proposed any new work on cluster munitions at the CCW since 2011 and the Convention on Cluster Munitions remains the sole international instrument to specifically address the weapons.

Use

Poland has consistently stated that the Polish Armed Forces have never used cluster munitions in combat situations.[13] In April 2017, Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs again confirmed that “as in previous years, Polish Armed Forces did not use cluster munitions in combat situations.”[14]

The website of Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that “Poland does not use cluster munitions in either combat situations or training,” but also that “cluster munitions constitute an efficient defense weapon” and “in our opinion there are currently no viable alternatives to replace cluster munitions.”[15]

Poland acknowledged that its army and air force used cluster munitions for training purposes in 2009–2011 at training grounds, but it has said nothing about the use of cluster munitions in training since 2012.[16]

Poland has described its air-delivered cluster munitions, which entered into service in the 1980s during the Warsaw Pact-era, as “obsolete” and stressed that “current military Air Force doctrine does not anticipate any use of air-delivered cluster munitions in military operations.”[17] While Poland is adhering to most of the convention’s provisions, it has not been willing to introduce a national moratorium on cluster munition use or production or transfer.[18]

Production

Poland is a producer of cluster munitions, but the last time the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to the Monitor that the weapons are “still produced” was in 2010.[19] It stated in 2009 that cluster munitions manufactured by Poland are “exclusively for the needs of the Polish Armed Forces.”[20]

At least four Polish companies have produced cluster munitions for the armed forces:

  • Zakłady Metalowe “DEZAMET” S.A. has produced the ZK-300 Kisajno cluster bomb and another type of cluster bomb called the LBKas-250, which contains 120 LBok-1 bomblets.[21] This company also produced a 98mm mortar projectile, as well as a 122mm projectile designed for the 2S1 “GOŹDZIK” howitzer.[22]
  • The Kraśnik defense plant produced cluster munitions for 98mm mortars, 122mm artillery, and 152mm artillery.[23]
  • Tłocznia Metali Pressta Spółka Akcynjna manufactured 122mm rockets.[24]
  • Fabryka Produkcji Specjalnej Spółka z o.o. produces the 122mm M-21FK “FENIKS-Z” and the 122mm “HESYT” rockets as well as GKO submunitions, a type of dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM).[25]

Many of these companies are subsidiaries of the Polish Defence Holding company, formerly known as the Bumar Group, a majority government-owned industry consortium of defense sector companies.[26]

Transfer

In 2015, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs again informed the Monitor that Poland’s stockpiles are “kept under strict control and are not subject to any international transfers.”[27] Previously, in 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Monitor that Poland and/or Polish companies have not exported any cluster munitions in previous years.[28] In 2010, however, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Polish companies could, theoretically, be legally granted permission to export cluster munitions, if an application was requested.[29]

Stockpiling

Poland possesses a stockpile of ground-launched and air-dropped cluster munitions, mostly of Polish origin and some from the former Soviet Union.[30]

The Polish land forces are equipped with the following types of cluster munitions:

  • 122mm M-21FK “FENIKS-Z” rockets, containing 42 GKO submunitions, used by BM-21/21M or RM-70/85 multi-barrel rocket launchers;
  • 122mm “HESYT-1” artillery projectiles, containing 20 GKO submunitions, used by 2S1 “GOŹDZIK” self-propelled howitzers; and
  • 98mm “RAD-2” mortar projectiles, containing 12 GKO submunitions, used by M-98 mortars.

The Polish air force possesses the following types of cluster munitions:

  • ZK-300 cluster bombs containing 315 LBOk fragmentation bomblets—both the carrier and bomblets were designed and produced in Poland; and
  • BKF cartridges with antivehicle, incendiary, and fragmentation bomblets, imported from the former Soviet Union, for use in KMG-U dispensers on Su-22 aircraft.

In 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the armed forces no longer possessed RBK-250, RBK-250-275, and RBK-500 type cluster bombs, which it said were withdrawn from service during the 1990s and destroyed.[31]

In its April 2017 letter, Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that in the reporting period, “cluster munition stockpiles were kept under strict control and regular reviews.”[32] In April 2015, it made a similar statement that its cluster munitions are subject to “regular stockpile reviews which lead to a reduction in…stockpiles since munitions that are not eligible for further use are destroyed.”[33]

The cluster munitions section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website states that “the Polish Armed Forces are equipped with modern type of cluster munitions, which contain self-deactivation mechanisms which guarantee a very high level of reliability.”[34] It further states that “cluster munitions are subject to regular reviews which lead to a reduction in their stockpiles since munitions that are not eligible for further use are destroyed.”



[1] Letter from Marcin Wroblewski, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Mary Wareham, Human Rights Watch (HRW), 28 April 2017.

[2] In 2009, Poland stated that it considered cluster munitions equipped with self-destruct mechanisms and with a failure rate no higher than 3% to be “legitimate weapons of significant military value.” Letter from Adam Kobieracki, then-Director, Security Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009. See also, letter from Tomasz Łękarski, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2011.

[3] ICBL-CMC meeting with Miroslaw Broillo, Deputy Permanent Representative for Disarmament, and Col. Zbigniew Ciolek, Adviser, Permanent Mission of Poland to the United Nations, New York, October 2016.

[4] Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) meeting with Witold Majewski, Second Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Poland to the Republic of South Africa, September 2013.

[5] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, “Cluster Munitions,” undated but 2012.

[6]Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 71/45, 5 December 2016; and “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 70/54, 7 December 2015.

[7] Statement of Poland (on behalf of Greece, Estonia, and Finland, and Romania), UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 31 October 2016; and statement of Poland (on behalf of Greece, Estonia, and Finland), UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 4 November 2015.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Poland was one of three states attending the February 2007 conference launching the process to not endorse the Oslo Declaration, in which states pledged to negotiate a legally binding instrument by the end of 2008 prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable humanitarian harm.

[10] For details on Poland’s cluster munition policy and practice through early 2009, see HRW and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 226–227.

[11]Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 71/203, 19 December 2016. Poland voted in favor of similar resolutions in 2013–2015.

[12] Ibid.

[13] In 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the Polish Military Contingent in Afghanistan had been equipped with cluster munitions for 98mm mortars, but also said that NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) policy to not use cluster munitions in Afghanistan “has been put into effect through the order of the Chief of General Staff” of the Polish armed forces. Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010; and ICBL, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2010), pp. 235–236.

[14] Letter from Marcin Wroblewski, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Mary Wareham, HRW, 28 April 2017.

[15] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, “Cluster Munitions,” undated but 2012.

[16] Letter from Tomasz Łękarski, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2011; and letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 April 2010.

[17] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.

[18] Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010; and CMC meeting with Witold Majewski, Embassy of the Republic of Poland to the Republic of South Africa, September 2013.

[19] Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010.

[20] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.

[21] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 391; and Zakłady Metalowe, DEZAMET S.A. website, “Air Armament,” undated. As of June 2017, the submunition variant is no longer listed as available for sale.

[22] Zakłady Metalowe DEZAMET S.A. website.

[23] Zakłady Metalowe DEZAMET S.A. website, “Cargo Ammunition,” undated; and Marcin Górka, “Poland Sees Nothing Wrong in Cluster Bombs,” Gazeta Wyborcza, 9 September 2008.

[24] Terry J. Gander and Charles Q. Cutshaw, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 2001–2002 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2001), p. 626.

[25] In 2009, Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said GKO submunitions had been produced since 2001 and feature a self-destruction mechanism that ensures “negligible failure rates of the submunitions in all environmental conditions.” Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.

[26] Polish Defence Holding website, “About Us,” undated.

[27] Letter from Tomasz Łękarski, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 29 April 2015. This was also communicated to the Monitor in 2014. Letter from Michael Polakow, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, 23 May 2014.

[28] Letters from Tomasz Łękarski, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2011; from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010; and from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.

[29] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 April 2010. The response stated: “Currently regulations on control of trade in goods of strategic importance do not provide for a total ban on exports of cluster munitions, as opposed to anti-personnel mines. Administrative decisions on the granting of permits to export weapons are considered on an individual basis with the involvement of consulting authorities, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 29 November 2000 on foreign trade in goods, technologies and services of strategic importance for national security and for the maintenance of international peace and security (Journal of Laws of 2004 No. 229, item. 2315, as amended later). Obtaining permission for export of cluster munitions is theoretically possible, in the case of approval of the transaction by the trade control authority, after having received a positive opinion of consulting bodies, including the Foreign Ministry.” Translation by Marta Kulikowska, Polish Red Cross, 30 May 2010.

[30] Unless otherwise noted, all information on stockpiles was provided by letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.

[31] Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010.

[32] Letter from Marcin Wroblewski, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Mary Wareham, HRW, 28 April 2017.

[33] Letter from Tomasz Łękarski, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 29 April 2015. A similar statement in 2014, emphasized that regular reviews result “in a gradual decrease in the number of stockpiled units” of cluster munitions. Letter from Michael Polakow, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 23 May 2014.

[34] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, “Cluster Munitions,” undated but 2012.