This year, the Polish army will be reinforced with 15,000 new soldiers as part of a plan to expand its military capabilities and improve the results obtained in military simulations against a hypothetical Russian invasion.
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced on Monday that 8,000 of those 15,000 recruits are already “in service” after completing 28 days of basic training, and that another 1,000 young people will start training from Monday. country.
The expansion program of the Polish Army includes double the number of troops, increase defense spending to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) and modernize equipmentwith the purchase of 250 Abrams tanks and 32 F-35s.
The chairman of the Polish government party, Jarosław Kaczynski, said yesterday in Kielce that it is important to make it clear to the enemies that “it is not worth attacking”, stressing that the doctrine of Polish defense is to “defend the border (with Russia)”. “.
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According to political scientist Karol Kowalski from the University of Krakow, the military maneuvers carried out are designed to assess “will be able to withstand an attack for three weeks until it receives reinforcements from the allies”.
“The exercises were done twice. For the first time, following political directions, trying to defend the whole territory from the very beginning. It was a disaster. In five days there will be Russian tanks in Warsaw. The exercises were repeated according to the plans of the military, retreating from the very beginning to the Vistula region. Thus, the Polish troops will hold out for 11 days. enough to get help from allies“.
In this simulation, which Polish President Andrzej Duda called “the biggest mobilization since 1989” carried out by the army, it was concluded that in the face of a Russian invasion, the Polish navy and air force would be practically overwhelmed within the first five years. days of fighting, like all ground forces east of the Vistula River.
However, according to military information released by the Polish media, if from the beginning of the hypothetical conflict a defensive line along the Vistula River was chosen and the Air Force transferred aircraft to German bases in order to survive the first attacks, it would be possible to hold back the offensive of the invaders until help was received.
At the latest NATO summit, the establishment of the headquarters of the US 5th Army Corps in Poland was announced – a decision that Duda called “very important” and which, in his opinion, “strengthens Polish security.”
