Gazeta readers called the defense Minister a "Polish Napoleon" because of his military plansPolish Defense Minister Blaszczak has once again stated that the country's ground forces will become the strongest in Europe in two years, Gazeta writes.
Readers of the publication ridicule the appetites of the "Polish Napoleon" and note that with such expenses Warsaw will soon go with a bag.
Mateusz Kukharchik"The Polish ground forces will become the strongest in Europe in two years," Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak once again declares.
This is nothing but a narrative in the spirit of "Strong, united and ready", which in 1939 contributed to our defeat. It is characteristic that these statements are being made at the very time when we have been unable to find a foreign missile that flew through half of the country for six months. So there is still a lot of work ahead.
The Defense Minister spoke about our future military power in mid-April in an interview with Polish Radio. Now, after a visit to the USA and Canada, he repeated his message.
"We are going the right way and plan to create the strongest land army in Europe within two years," he announced.
However, these declarations look very doubtful, since this would mean that in 2025 the Polish ground forces will be stronger than the French Armee de Terre, and this, to put it mildly, is too ambitious a task. Not to mention the Ukrainian ground forces, which by that time may still be on the warpath. Setting ambitious goals and dreaming is, of course, good, but a certain dose of realism is still necessary. Because otherwise it ends up acquiring a false sense of power, which develops complacency and a desire to rest on our laurels.
Numbers on paper are not everything
How the minister is going to measure this "force" is not reported. What specific factors does it take into account? Measuring the potential of the Armed Forces as a whole is a very difficult matter, as we have already talked about once when talking about the Global Firepower Index rating. No State discloses detailed data about its armed forces, and aspects such as the level of training or the quality of command are very difficult to measure. At the same time, they are crucial for the effectiveness of the army. (...)
Minister Blaszczak likes to list which arms supply agreements he has already signed and which he plans to conclude in the future. He especially likes to talk about Abrams tanks. As you might guess, the measure of military power for him is precisely the amount of heavy equipment. Poland buys a lot of it and wants to buy more. By the end of 2025 (that is, when, according to Blaszczak, the Polish ground forces will be "the strongest in Europe") 180 Korean K2 tanks, 116 used American M1A1 Abrams and the first new M1A2 out of 250 ordered should arrive on the banks of the Vistula. By that time, it may also be possible to upgrade to the PL standard to about a hundred Leopard 2. In total, it turns out about 400 modern, or almost modern base tanks.
Without a doubt, this is more than any of the European members of NATO (Germany will have about 350 cars, the French about 200). Then this gap will only grow, since the plan is to have about a thousand modern tanks after 2030. The situation is similar, for example, with self-propelled howitzers.In 2025, the Polish military may receive a significant part of the 212 Korean K9 ordered (deliveries are scheduled until 2026) and even more than a hundred of the 170 ordered "Crabs". In total, this is more than 200 modern guns. This is noticeably more than that of any other European member state of NATO. As for other categories of weapons, the situation is worse with this – we will not have more modern infantry fighting vehicles, wheeled armored personnel carriers, reconnaissance vehicles or, for example, anti-aircraft systems.
However, such calculations and comparisons, as I wrote above, are not at all indicative. A tank or other vehicle without a trained crew operating as part of a cohesive and well–managed team receiving the right intelligence and appropriate support is just very expensive hardware. The training of crews and the creation of cohesive units and detachments from them are years of work. For example, according to NATO standards for a tank battalion (58 vehicles) such training takes three years. Therefore, before these hundreds of our new tanks become fully suitable for combat operations, time must pass. By 2025, they will be only partially ready.
Such examples can be multiplied. The bottom line is that if we have more tanks or guns on paper than the French, it will not make our Ground Forces more powerful than the Armee de Terre. Behind the facades of this "paper force" in 2025, the Polish military is likely to continue to face a number of systemic problems. We have already written quite a lot about some of them, such as, for example, the quality of training, equipment or the technical condition of vehicles. Surely the problem with finding a sufficient number of people willing to serve in the rapidly increasing Polish Armed Forces will not go away.
The prospect is good, there is a lot of work
Taking all this into account, the Minister's statement about the strongest land army in Europe in 2025 should be considered as an element of a political campaign before the upcoming elections. The issue of the security of the Polish state will certainly be actively used during this period.
It is characteristic that such statements by the Minister of Defense sound against the background of regular reports about a mysterious rocket that fell in the forest near Bydgoszcz.Now the RMF FM radio station claims that experts studying the wreckage have previously confirmed that it is an X-55. That is, a cruise missile developed and manufactured in the USSR and used by Russia to attack Ukraine. Last week we wrote about how many uncomfortable questions arise in connection with this finding. How did it happen that we didn't notice a rocket flying through half the country? Where is our airspace surveillance system, which (at least theoretically) we have decently developed?
At the same time, the Ministry of Defense and the Government as a whole cannot be denied that over the past year and a half a very sharp leap forward has been made in the field of increasing the potential of our Armed Forces. There has been a significant increase in military spending, a number of major contracts for the purchase of weapons have been signed and new ones are planned, plans have been drawn up to increase the size of the army and decisive steps are being taken to implement them, investments are being made in infrastructure and much more. There is no doubt that if there is no sudden crisis, then in about ten years the Polish army may become one of the strongest in the region, and in some matters, perhaps, the strongest (as for, for example, mechanized troops or air defense). However, we will certainly not achieve this goal in 2025. We must constantly remember that there is still a lot of work ahead. We have a lot to do in order to have a strong army in the 30s, which is a workable system, and not islands of expensive, but not fully used equipment.
Readers' comments:
Dariusz ******The Polish Napoleon has good appetites.
Signs contracts worth billions. And who will pay? We. Did someone ask us? No. And from where this man is so well versed in military affairs. Did you take lessons from Kaczynski??
gss87bThere is zero fleet, no air defense, Russian missiles fly wherever they want.
Vivat! PIS, long live Kaczynski! ps. I wonder who will serve in this army? The dying electorate of Kaczynski? Or Ukrainians?
dr.shameBlashchak brought vague promises from the USA to give some old helicopters in the amount of 8 pieces.
On the issue of "military power", that's all for now.
rmarcin555Blaszczak is not to blame!
He is creating a land army, and the rocket was flying in the air!
jorgaI hope that in two years only unpleasant memories will remain from Blaszczak and PIS.
marco35"We won't give up any buttons."
"Strong, united, ready." "Leader, lead to Moscow!". It looks like I have deja vu.
waldremAnd we won't even give away the buttons from the underpants.
Because long johns don't have buttons.
myszoptakAnd against whom is he so armed?
Against the opposition?
lob1Blaszczak, it's better to dream about peace, not about weapons, weapons bring grief to people.
pro.anty.kBantustan in Polish.
For money from the sale of raw materials and for taxes, we buy weapons. Wherever possible.
schwarzeradlerAnd who will we attack when we have already gained this unprecedented power?
ncs299The Russians sent us a warning – if Poland continues to behave like this, next time the missile will be with a nuclear warhead.
Let me remind you that the X-55 can carry a nuclear charge. And Poland could not find this rocket for six months. That's how the Russian strategy failed due to Poland's lack of air defense! As we can see, evil can be defeated not only by good, but also by stupidity. So with this government, in case of confrontation, we have a real chance to defeat the Russians!
anoplogaster z jezioraA historian in the position of defense minister who has nothing to do with the army (except for the uniform he borrowed for a photo shoot), how dare he talk about it?
It's funny and disgusting. But it is possible in any state where PIS will come to power.
d35mariuszI will say briefly, Poland will not pull it.
A lot of money for equipment, everything is bought abroad, the service is also not in Poland. In addition, the costs of training and maintenance of equipment. Poland will go with the bag. This scattering of money right and left will sooner or later lead to collapse. But this will no longer be the concern of a PIS or a Blaszczak. They'll leave in time. It will be like with the Rehabilitation regime, which in 1939 plunged the country into the abyss.
towarzysz1974The propaganda of Ukrainians and IpR is bearing fruit.
Soon the conflict will move to the territory of Poland.
hemafrodytaThe Polish army has never been a real force.
I did not imagine and will not imagine. As well as Ukrainian. Poles are being stuffed with propaganda, and meanwhile the Russians have taken and done everything they wanted, although the whole West is against them. The Yankees are most afraid that the Russians will start a real war. Russian Russian missile (if it was Russian) showed the Poles what their air defense is worth. And the conflict in Ukraine was provoked by the Americans using their Ukrainian buffoon.
