| Polish Armed Forces
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| Military manpower
| | Military age | 18 years of age
| | Availability | males age 15-49: 10,354,978 (2003 est.)
| | Reaching military age annually | males: 343,500 (2003 est.)
| | Military expenditures
| | Dollar figure | $3.5 billion (FY2002 est.)
| | Percent of GDP | 1.71% (FY2002 est.)
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Polish Army (Polish Wojsko Polskie) is the name applied to the military forces of Poland. The name is in use since early 19th century, although in Polish it might also refer to earlier military formations.
The armed forces of Poland consist of the Army (Wojsko), Navy (Marynarka) and Air Force (Lotnictwo) branches and are under the command of the Ministry of Defense (Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej).
History
Kingdom of Poland
First Polish Army was created in the 10th century kingdom of Poland, under Piast dynasty.
Main article: Military of the Commonwealth
Commonwealth armies were commanded by four hetmans. The armies comprised:
- Wojsko kwarciane: Regular units with wages paid from taxes (these units were later merged with the wojsko komputowe)
- Wojsko komputowe: Semi-regular units created for times of war (in 1652 these units were merged with the wojsko kwarciane into a new permanent army)
- Pospolite ruszenie: Szlachta levée en masse
- piechota łanowa and piechota wybraniecka: Units based on peasant recruits
- Registered Cossacks: Cavalry made up of Cossacks, who were recruited until 1699
- Royal guard: A small unit whose primary purpose was to escort the monarch and members of his family
- Mercenaries: As with most other armies, hired to supplement regular units
- Private armies: Usually paid for and equipped by magnates or cities
Some units of the Commonwealth used fairly unique tactics. These units included:
- Hussars: heavy cavalry armed with lances; their charges were extremely effective until advances in firearms in the late 17th century substantially increased infantry firepower.
- Cossacks: general name for all Commonwealth units of light cavalry, even if they did not contain a single ethnic Cossack; fast and manueverable like oriental cavalry units of Ottoman Empire vassals, but lacking the firepower of European cavalry such as the Swedish rajtars.
- Tabor: military horse-drawn wagons, usually carrying army supplies. Their use for defensive formations was perfected by the Cossacks, and to a smaller extent by other Commonwealth units.
The Commonwealth Navy was small and played a relatively small role in the history of the Commonwealth.
Army without country
After partitions of Poland, from 1795 untill 1918 Polish military was recreated several times in Poland during uprisings like the January Uprising, and outside Poland like during Napoleon Bonaparte wars or Polish legions during First World War.
When Poland regained independence in 1918, it recreated its military which participated in the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1922 and in the Second World War 1939-1945.
Main articles: Armia Krajowa (Home Army), Polish contribution to World War II
Organization
The combined Polish armed forces consists of 135,000 active duty personnel and in addition 450,000 reserves.
The armed forces are made up of conscripts who serve for a period of 12 months, and professional soldiers. Personnel levels and organization in the different branches are as follows (2004):
- Army: 87,877 (3 Mechanized Divisions and 1 Armoured Division)
- Air Force: 31,147 (Air and Air Defense Corps)
- Navy: 15,976 (1 Battle Fleet, 2 Coastal Defense Brigades)
Equipment
- Main article: Equipment of the Polish Army
The Polish military continues to use mostly Soviet-era equipment, however after joining NATO in 1999 Poland has begun upgrading and modernizing its hardware to Western standards. The General Staff has been reorganized into a NATO-compatible J/G-1 through J/G-6 structure. Recent modernization projects include the acquisition of F-16 fighter jets from the United States, Leopard 2 MBTs from Germany, ATGM technology from Israel (as well as possible future acquisition of Rafael Python 5 and Arrow missiles), and Patria AMV 8x8 AFVs from Finland. Equipment statistics for the branches are as follows:
- Army: 1010 MBT, 2042 AFV/APC, 1322 Artillery (120mm or greater ), 157 Army Helicopters.
- Air Force: 143 Fighter, 232 FGA/Training, 173 Transport/Helicopter.
- Navy: 1 Destroyer, 5 Corvette, 9 Frigate, 3 Submarine, 57 Auxillary, 79 Navy Aircraft.
Mission
The most basic goal of the armed forces is the defense of Polish territorial integrity, and Polish interests abroad. Poland's national security goal is to further integrate with NATO and other west European defense, economic, and political institutions via a modernization and reorganization of its military. Polish military doctrine reflects the same defense nature as its NATO partners. Poland continues to be a regional leader in support and participation in the NATO Partnership for Peace Program and has actively engaged most of its neighbors and other regional actors to build stable foundations for future European security arrangements. Poland is also playing an increasingly larger role as a major European peacekeeping power in the world through various UN peacekeeping actions.
Recent Operations
Polish Armed Forces took part in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, and since then have 2,500 soldiers in the south of that country, and command of the 17-nation Multinational force in Iraq. In addition to this, Polish soldiers are currently deployed in five separate UN Peacekeeping Operations (UNDOF, UNIFIL, SFOR, AFOR and KFOR) with a total of approximately 2,200 troops, on top of the 2,500 soldiers in southern Iraq. Total international deployment of Polish military is 4,700 troops.
Current Deployment (2004):
- Lebanon: UN Interim Force (PMC/UNIFIL) - 632 soldiers
- Balkans: Stabilization Force (PMU/SFOR) - 300 soldiers
- Albania: International Force in Albania (PMU/AFOR) - 140 soldiers
Trivia
Polish military forces are the origin of the two-fingers salute.
Branches
The Polish Army consists of the following branches:
- Land Forces of Poland (Wojska Lądowe Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej)
- Polish Navy (Marynarka Wojenna Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej)
- Polish Air Forces (Siły Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej)
See also
External links:
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