Poland is one of the safest countries in Europe for both locals and tourists. And the very security in it is provided by the local police, who are always ready to help people, as well as by the military forces.

Let's take a closer look at them in order to have an idea of ​​why Poland is considered one of the most defensive countries in Europe, and to know where to turn in this state in the event of an emergency situation.

Polish police - tourist information

The police in this state began their formation in 1989, replacing the previous structure, recognized by the Polish authorities as ineffective. At that time, the police forces enjoyed a rather low confidence of the people, and could not perform all the functions imposed on it with high quality.

After a series of transformations in 1990, the police received a modern structure and began to work according to new standards. Naturally, all the transformations in the police system were carried out at the legislative level.

Today, the police are completely separated from other security structures of this country, including the army. Also, each police officer is protected from the influence of any political forces. The infusion of representatives of the old formation into the new ranks of the police was also limited.

It was these principles of the formation of the police that made it possible to carry out reforms in it in the shortest possible time and as efficiently as possible.

Over the entire period of the formation of the new police structure, more than 100 thousand employees were replaced, and already at the beginning of the transformations, up to 40% of the main staff who had not undergone retraining were dismissed.

Also, such main features of the work of this system as publicity, openness both to the press and to local authorities were developed.

Actions were held to reveal the level of trust of local residents in such structures, numerous polls, as well as visits of police officers to schools and other institutions to get the public acquainted with representatives of law and order.

The modern police were able to implement all the tasks assigned to it, including effective work with citizens, entrepreneurs, local authorities, as well as increasing overall trust in this structure, which has grown by 70% in recent years.

The Polish police are always open to cooperation with both local residents and tourists. Anyone in need can apply to her personally by finding a police officer on the street or in a police station. Also, tourists in Poland can contact the police hotline to call the brigade to a specific address or report any problems.

The police force consists of three main large units. It is patrol, criminal and anti-terror. Patrol units are most open to cooperation with private individuals, unlike criminal ones, they can provide their data publicly, therefore it is worth contacting them if you need emergency assistance in this country.

Upon joining the EU, the police force received numerous subsidies. Thanks to them, cars, motorcycles, ambulances were purchased in Poland for such units, similar to those that are already in service with other police units in all countries of the Eurozone.

Some of them do not have identification marks, but are also listed on the balance sheet of certain structures, and thanks to them, the police officer can perform his work effectively.

Currently, you can contact the Polish police on one general number 997 if you call from a landline number. If you call the police from your mobile, you need to dial the general service number 112, where you can contact both the police and the ambulance, if necessary.

The structure of the police is, of course, a powerful unit protecting the internal order of Poland, but it is in no way inferior to the armed forces of the state. Back in the 50s, it was the second largest after the Soviet one.

However, unlike many Baltic and even European armies, after the collapse of the Union itself, it actually did not lose its own combat capability and continues to build up its own power at the present time.

The defense forces of Poland are now fully staffed and represented by all branches of the military. There is a fleet here, and a tank army, ground air defense, aviation, represented by planes and helicopters, artillery and armored cavalry. All units form local forces without involving partners from other countries, unlike other states.

In 1999, Poland became a member of NATO, rebuilding its own defense system to the standards of this bloc. Very quickly, the state also expanded its own army, making it one of the largest in this alliance in just a few years, second only to the American and Turkish in number.

At present, the Polish army has completely switched from the conscription principle of manning its own personnel to the contract one. The size of the Polish contingent was somewhat reduced in comparison with 1998 (which, in general, was observed in all the troops that make up the NATO structure), and some of the weapons were also modernized.

In particular, German tanks "Leopard" were received (deliveries of which are ongoing), modern aircraft were purchased, which in this country are one of the newest in the world. Air defense installations have also been modernized.

The most powerful units of the Polish army are considered to be ground-based, namely, tank units (in terms of scale they bypass even German formations), ground-based air defense. Aviation is in good condition. To some extent, only the fleet of this state is experiencing a crisis, which, nevertheless, is armed with submarines, in particular, machines of the Norwegian Cobben type.

In recent years, as part of the modernization of their own Baltic fleet, the Poles have tried to create their own updated missile corvettes. However, this venture, due to the low funding of the industry, was not crowned with success: only one corvette was created, while it did not receive any missiles, and even now it is used exclusively as a patrol vessel.

There is an opinion that all the reforms of the Polish army carried out in recent years, as well as the replacement of some of the weapons, somewhat reduced the state's defense capability.

However, in reality this is not the case. In recent years, it has been possible to significantly strengthen the forces of Poland and make them one of the most powerful, at least in Western Europe.

Poland today is one of the few European countries on whose territory there are no foreign troops. All units located on its territory have not changed their configuration since the times of the Warsaw Pact, and they are deployed either on the western border of the state, or in the center of the country.

The situation with the armament of the Polish army is also quite ambiguous. Some of its parts are being modernized unevenly, therefore they are at different levels of development. However, almost all types of troops have their own characteristics of weapons, in particular:

• Poland has the oldest fleet in the Baltic, equipped with guns from the 50s and 60s. In the coming years, they should be decommissioned, but there are currently no replacements for them, as well as strategies developed that would help bring the fleet to a new level.
• The Polish Air Force is the only one in the world in which there are two main aircraft at once, the F-16 and the MiG-29. And this is not counting helicopters, which also have a significant weight in the structure of this particular branch of the military.
• The fleet of tanks of this particular country is the fourth largest in Europe. Moreover, it is currently the only army in which a new tank is being developed today. And it should be a futuristic little Andersen.

It is also interesting that Poland today is the only NATO country that continues to expand its troops and is constantly modernizing them. As a result, the army of this state in a few years will be able to become one of the largest in Europe, especially against the background of a noticeably shrinking contingent of other states.

And this is despite the fact that in fact the budget for this industry in Poland is seriously limited. Despite a fairly wide contingent of units, the Polish army is not set up for expansion. It is completely focused on the defense of the state and counts little on assistance in military operations from other representatives of the NATO bloc.

It is a shame to read and hear from Russia's ill-wishers who claim that we "monopolized", "privatized" the victory over Nazism in World War II. And this at a time when there is a flurry of articles, broadcasts in the Russian media about the fight against Nazism together with our allies.

The position of the Polish leadership is generally incomprehensible. The refusal to let the "Night Wolves" pass through the territory of Poland can be perceived as an attempt to disown the participation of the Polish Army in the Victory. It's good that not everyone accepts this position, and there were people who picked up the baton of the Night Wolves club bikers and continued their route through the places of military glory of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

By the way, did you know that when Berlin was captured, the Polish flag was erected along with the Soviet one at the Brandenburg Gate?

"For your freedom and ours!" How Poland became the main ally of the Red Army

The largest regular force of a foreign state that fought along with the Red Army on the Soviet-German front was the Polish Army.

Unfriendly neighbors

The complex and full of mutual grievances, the centuries-old history of Russian-Polish relations at the beginning of World War II was replenished with a new episode, known in Soviet historiography as the "Liberation campaign of the Red Army" in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus.

After Poland de facto ceased to exist as an independent state by mid-September 1941, after the German attack, and its government fled abroad, units of the Red Army occupied the territories taken from Soviet Russia as a result of the Soviet-Polish war of 1919-1920.

It is clear that the Poles themselves viewed what was perceived in the USSR as the restoration of historical justice in a completely different way.

At that moment, hardly anyone could have believed that just a few years later, Polish units, together with units of the Red Army, would storm the capital of the Third Reich. But in the end it turned out that way ...

After the annexation of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of Poles ended up on the territory of the USSR. Some were refugees, others were taken prisoner, and others, officials of Polish state bodies, were arrested for participating in punitive activities against the underground communists operating in Poland.

In modern Poland, speaking about the fate of compatriots who ended up in the USSR in 1939-1940, they immediately recall the word "Katyn".

Lieutenant Colonel Berling's project

We will not once again plunge into this very dark story - the victims represented a small part of the representatives of the Polish army who ended up in the USSR.

That is why, when the Soviet Union thought about creating Polish military formations to fight the Nazis, there were no problems with personnel.

For the first time this idea surfaced back in the fall of 1940, when the war with Germany remained the prospect, albeit not the most distant, but still the future.

The NKVD gathered a group of former officers of the Polish army, with whom they discussed the issue of possible participation in the war with Germany as part of forces outside the control of the Polish government in exile. Among those who were ready to fight on such conditions, there was also Lieutenant Colonel Zygmunt Berling, the future commander of the 1st Army of the Polish Army.

The decision to create a separate division within the Red Army from Poles and people who know the Polish language was made on June 4, 1941, less than three weeks before the start of the war. The formation of the division was supposed to be entrusted to Lieutenant Colonel Berling.

London memorandum

With the outbreak of World War II, the plans of the Soviet government in relation to the Poles underwent changes. The USSR entered into an alliance with Great Britain, and through it, relations with the Polish government in exile in London improved.

On July 3, 1941, the government of the USSR decided to allow the formation of national committees and national military units from the Czechoslovakians, Yugoslavs and Poles on the territory of the USSR, as well as to provide assistance in arming and equipping these national units.

On July 11, 1941, a Soviet-Polish-British memorandum was signed in London on the creation of a Polish army in the USSR as an autonomous unit, operationally subordinate to the Supreme Command of the USSR.

Thus, it was decided that the Polish army in the Soviet Union would be associated with the Polish government in exile.

On August 12, 1941, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree on amnesty for Polish citizens on the territory of the USSR, finally removing the barriers to the formation of Polish formations in the Soviet Union.

Dissenting opinion of General Anders

A week before that, the future Polish army received its commander - it was General Vladislav Anders.

General Anders was extremely negative towards the USSR and, to put it mildly, did not welcome the idea of ​​fighting the Nazis side by side with the Red Army. He saw his task in the fact that, having formed military units from the Poles who were on the territory of the USSR, withdraw them from the country to join the British forces. Anders was convinced that the real struggle for Poland would begin when the Soviet Union was defeated by Hitler. General Anders had no doubts about the defeat of the Red Army.

Of course, being in the USSR, Anders tried not to voice his thoughts aloud.

The equipment and armament of the Polish troops, called the "Anders Army", was carried out jointly by the USSR, Great Britain and the United States. In September and October 1941 alone, the USSR transferred weapons to the Anders army for one infantry division: 40 artillery pieces, 135 mortars, 270 heavy and light machine guns, 8451 rifles, 162 submachine guns, 1,022 pistols and revolvers.

In December 1941, an agreement was reached to increase the "Anders army" from 30 to 96 thousand people.

We want to Palestine!

For the leadership of the USSR, Polish formations began to turn into a headache. The maintenance, training, armament of these units required large funds. And this happened at a time when the enemy was standing at the walls of Moscow.

In February 1942, the government of the USSR requested the Polish side to enter into battle on the Soviet-German front a fully prepared and equipped Polish 5th Infantry Division. General Anders strongly protested, saying that the Poles would only be able to enter the battle when the formation of the army as a whole was completed.

The Soviet side agreed with this decision, despite the most difficult situation at the front. Meanwhile head of the NKVD Lavrenty Beria reported that anti-Soviet sentiments reign in the "Anders army", officers refuse to fight the Nazis together with the Red Army.

Since the end of 1941, Great Britain and the United States began to offer the Soviet Union to transfer the "Anders army" through Iran to the Middle East. Representatives of the Polish government in exile began to insist on the same.

One can imagine what was going on in the souls of the Soviet leaders. While the hardest battles are going on at the front, and every division, every regiment at a glance, several tens of thousands of equipped and trained Polish soldiers sit in the rear and set the conditions where they will fight and where they will not.

"Let's do without you"

By March 1942, the "Anders army" had more than 70 thousand Polish soldiers and about 30 thousand civilians. When at a meeting with Stalin On March 18, 1942, General Anders once again began to talk about the need to transfer the Poles to the Middle East, Joseph Vissarionovich gave vent to his feelings: “If the Poles do not want to fight here, then let them say directly: yes or no ... I know where the army is. is formed, so it will remain there ... Let's do without you. We can give them all. We can handle it ourselves. We will recapture Poland and then we will give it to you. But what will people say to this ... "

The evacuation of "Anders' army" from the USSR began in March 1942 and was completed by September 1. At parting, the delighted Anders thanked Stalin and said that "the strategic center of gravity of the war is now moving to the Near and Middle East." Also, the general asked to continue the conscription of Poles into the army in the USSR and send him as a replenishment.

Whereas Stalin expressed his feelings about what had happened with restraint, lower military leaders who were involved in helping to form the "Anders army" sent after the Poles selected tirades from that part of Russian folklore, which is also called "obscene language."

"Army Anders" as part of the British army after staying in the Middle East in 1944 managed to be noted in the battles in Italy. In modern Poland, where "Anders' army" is ranked above all other Polish formations of World War II, the so-called "assault on Monte Cassino" is considered a cult event, although this battle in a secondary theater of military operations cannot be compared with the same assault on Berlin , in which other Poles showed themselves.

However, enough about Anders' army - we paid more attention to it than it deserves.

Division of Polish Patriots

Among the Polish military and civilians who were in the USSR, there were a huge number of those who considered the behavior of General Anders to be a real betrayal and shame for the Polish nation.

On March 1, 1943, the Union of Polish Patriots was created in the USSR, the backbone of which was made up of Polish communists and representatives of other left-wing forces, as well as public figures and representatives of Polish culture who advocated friendly relations between Poland and the USSR. This organization became a counterbalance to the Polish government in exile in London.

The "Union of Polish Patriots" in May 1943 puts forward the idea of ​​forming new Polish units that will fight shoulder to shoulder with the Red Army. On May 6, 1943, the State Defense Committee of the USSR issued decree No. 3294 "On the formation of the 1st Polish Infantry Division named after Tadeusz Kosciuszko." Already on May 14, 1943, the formation of the division began near Ryazan.

In fact, it was a return to the unrealized idea of ​​1941. The same Colonel Zygmunt Berling became the division commander. He managed to visit the "Anders army" as the head of a military camp, but refused to leave with the "Anders" to the Middle East.

By July 5, 1943, the division included about 14,400 soldiers and officers. On July 15, 1943, on the anniversary of the historic battle of Grunwald for the Poles, the division fighters took the military oath, on the same day the Union of Polish Patriots handed the division a battle banner - red and white, with the motto "For your and our freedom!"

Baptism in fire and blood

Due to the lack of technical personnel at the first stage, more than 300 Soviet officers were included in the division.

The formation of the Polish units proceeded rapidly. Already on August 10, 1943, the formation of the 1st Polish corps was announced, which, in addition to the Kosciuszko division, included the 1st Polish Tank Regiment named after Heroes Westerplatte and the 1st Fighter Aviation Regiment "Warsaw".

The baptism of fire of the Poles on the Soviet-German front took place on October 12-13, 1943 in the battle of Lenino, which was part of the Orsha offensive operation.

Included in the 33rd Army General Gordov The 1st Polish Division clashed with the units of the 337th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht.

In the two-day battles near Lenino, the Polish division, faced with a well-armed enemy, lost up to a third of its personnel in killed, wounded and missing. At the same time, the losses of the Germans in killed and wounded amounted to about 1,500 people, more than 320 Nazis were taken prisoner.

For the operation near Lenino, Polish soldiers were awarded 239 Soviet and 247 Polish orders and medals.

Three Polish servicemen became Heroes of the Soviet Union - captains Juliusz Hibner and Vladislav Vysotsky, and Private Anela Kzhivon... Vladislav Vysotsky and the female submachine gunner Anela Kzhivon received a high award posthumously.

Despite the losses, a start was made. Now the Poles fought against the Nazis not somewhere in the backyard of the world, but where the fate of the war was being decided.

They fought for their homeland

By March 1944, the 1st Polish Corps was deployed to the 1st Polish Army, or 1st Army of the Polish Army. The ranks of the army included not only Polish citizens, but also Soviet citizens of predominantly Polish origin.

The commander of the formation was the same Zygmunt Berling, who now wore the epaulettes of the lieutenant general.

In July 1944, a historic moment came - the 1st Polish Army, as part of the 1st Belorussian Front, crossed the Western Bug and entered the territory of Poland.

It was the soldiers of General Berling, who fought shoulder to shoulder with the Soviet soldiers, who liberated their native country from the Germans, and not the escaped Anders army.

On the territory of Poland, the army was replenished by the soldiers of the partisan Army of Ludowa, who spoke from ideological positions similar to those expressed by the Union of Polish Patriots.

On July 26, 1944, replacing parts of the 8th Guards Army, the 1st Polish Army reached the eastern bank of the Vistula in the area of ​​Demblin and Pulaw and began fighting to seize the bridgehead on the left bank. In the future, the army took part in the battles at the Magnushevsky bridgehead.

In September 1944, the 1st Polish Army liberated the suburb of Warsaw - Prague.

In January 1945, Polish troops played a crucial role in the liberation of Warsaw, which was taken on 17 January.

In total, more than 10 thousand soldiers of the 1st Polish Army were killed in the battles for the liberation of Poland, about 27 thousand were injured.

To Berlin!

By 1945, the number of Polish formations that fought on the Soviet-German front reached 200,000, which was almost three times the size of the Anders army. In addition to the 1st Army of the Polish Army, the 2nd Army was also formed, which became part of the 1st Ukrainian Front.

The 1st and 2nd armies of the Polish Army took part in the Berlin offensive, and units of the 2nd army were also involved in the Prague operation.

In the battles for Berlin, the Polish Army lost 7200 people killed and 3800 missing.

The Polish Army became the largest regular force of a foreign state, fighting alongside the Red Army on the Soviet-German front. The actions of the Polish Army were noted 13 times in the orders of thanks of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the USSR, more than 5 thousand servicemen and 23 formations and units of the Polish Army were awarded Soviet orders.

The best Polish soldiers, together with soldiers of the Red Army, took part in the Victory Parade on Red Square on May 24, 1945.

Friendship that will no longer be

More than a dozen Poles who fought in the ranks of the Polish Army were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Among them and General Stanislav Poplavsky, Pole, born in Ukraine, who served in the Red Army and in 1944 was sent to serve in the Polish Army.

It was under his command that the 1st Army of the Polish Army broke through the German defenses on the Oder and stormed Berlin. For skilful command and control of troops in the Berlin operation on May 29, 1945, Colonel-General Poplavsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

During the capture of Berlin, the Polish flag was erected at the Brandenburg Gate along with the Soviet one.

One of the favorite films of both Soviet and Polish children for many years was the film "Four Tankmen and a Dog", which tells about the soldiers of the Polish Army who went through the war alongside the soldiers of the Red Army.

Much has been said and written lately about NATO's eastward expansion and the creation of the bloc's infrastructure in Eastern Europe, whose states are turning into "front-line" states with perseverance worthy of better use. A particularly tense situation is developing in the Baltic region, which is already beginning to be called the modern "powder keg" of Europe (by analogy with the Balkans at the beginning of the last century, where the First World War came from). Poland and the three Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) were at the epicenter of events here. In this regard, we offer a series of articles devoted to the armed forces of Poland and the Baltic states, the formation of NATO infrastructure on their territory and how NATO's activities in Eastern Europe threaten Russia and what steps can be taken in response to it. Now we bring to your attention the first article devoted to the armed forces of Poland.

NATO pledge not to expand

In 1990, when the question of German unification was being decided, Western leaders assured Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze that NATO would not expand eastward. The promises, however, were given rather vague, and the then Soviet leaders, for still unknown reasons, did not even bother to try to translate these words into the plane of binding international agreements.

It is not surprising that after the collapse of the USSR and global geopolitical shifts in Central and Eastern Europe, the West immediately rejected these promises and, moreover, does not recognize their existence at all. For example, the American private intelligence and analytical company Stratfor, which is sometimes called the "shadow CIA", stated in 2014 that "no promises were broken because no one made them." And this is not the only statement of this kind.

One way or another, since 1999, twelve countries of Central and Eastern Europe have joined NATO.

These states include Poland, which became a member of the North Atlantic Alliance on March 12, 1999, and the three Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) that joined NATO on March 29, 2004. The admission of these countries to NATO is of particular importance for Russia - all of them are directly border with it, and the Baltic countries were part of the Soviet Union. Thus, by accepting them into its composition, the North Atlantic Alliance entered the post-Soviet territory for the first time and clearly

Quantitative characteristics of the Polish army

After Poland and the Baltic states joined NATO, their armed forces and the military infrastructure belonging to them were at the disposal of NATO, which is often forgotten when only the US troops, as well as the Western European members of the Alliance, are meant by NATO forces in Central and Eastern Europe.

And if the armed forces of the Baltic countries have a rather symbolic value for NATO and rather themselves need it, then the armed forces of Poland, at least in quantitative terms, look different.

Of course, they are significantly reduced compared to the Polish army during its membership in the Warsaw Pact. But reductions in armed forces took place in the rest of the European NATO countries as well. The US armed forces in Europe have also significantly diminished. So, against their background, the Polish army, which has become completely professional since 2009, looks quite good numerically.

For example, the Polish army now has more than three times more tanks than the German. It surpasses the German army in the number of armored combat vehicles (1.1 times) and artillery pieces, multiple launch rocket systems and mortars (almost 3.5 times). There are as many submarines in the Polish fleet as in the German.

The data on the size of the armed forces of Poland according to the authoritative English directory The Military Balance 2016 are given in the table.

The size of the armed forces and weapons of Poland

The number of armed forces, thousand people
Ground forces formations	1 armored cavalry (armored) division, 2 mechanized divisions, 1 mechanized brigade, 1 air assault brigade, 1 air cavalry brigade (airmobile)
	971: 142 Leopard 2A4, 91 Leopard 2A5 (German); 233 PT-91Tawdry (upgraded T-72 tanks in Poland); 505 T-72 / T-72M1D / T-72M1 (produced in Poland under a Soviet license)
Infantry fighting vehicles (BMP)	1838 (1268 Soviet BMP-1, 570 Polish Rosomak)
Armored personnel carriers (APC)
Combat reconnaissance vehicles (BRM)
Self-propelled artillery installations (ACS)	403 (292 Soviet 122-mm 2S1 "Carnation", 111 Czechoslovak 152-mm M-77 Dana)
Multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS)	180 (75 Soviet BM-21 Grad, 30 Czechoslovak RM-70, 75 Polish WR-40 Langusta)
Mortars
Submarines	5 (1 project 877 Soviet-built, 4 former Norwegian Type-207 German-built)
	2 (former American type Oliver Hazard Perry)
	1 (Polish-built Kaszub)
Small rocket ships	3 (type Orkan built by the GDR)
Landing ships	5 (Polish-built Lublin type)
Minesweepers
Anti-submarine helicopters	11 (7 Mi-14PL, 4 SH-2G Super Seasprite)
Fighters	32 (26 MiG-29A, 6 MiG-29UB)
Fighter Bombers	66 (36 F-16C Block 52+ Fighting Falcon, 12 F-16D Block 52+ Fighting Falcon, 12 Su-22M-4, 6 Su-22UM3K)
Medium transport aircraft	5 C-130E Hercules
Light transport aircraft	39 (16 C-295M, 23 M-28 Bryza TD)
Anti-tank helicopters
Multipurpose helicopters	70 (2 Mi-8, 7 Mi-8MT, 3 Mi-17, 1 Mi-17AE (medical), 8 Mi-17, 5 Mi-17-1V, 16 PZL Mi-2URP, 24 PZL W-3W / WA Sokol; 4 PZL W-3PL Gluszec)
Transport helicopters	108 (9 Mi-8, 7 Mi-8T, 45 PZL Mi-2, 11 PZL W-3 Sokol, 10 PZL W-3WA Sokol (VIP), 2 PZL W-3AE Sokol (medical), 24 SW-4 Puszczyk (educational))
Self-propelled anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM)	101 (17 C-125 "Neva-SC", 20 2K12 "Cube" (SA-6 Gainful), 64 9K33 "Wasp-AK" (SA-8 Gecko))
Stationary anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM)	1 C-200VE "Vega-E"

Qualitative characteristics of the armed forces of Poland

However, if we look at the qualitative state of the Polish army, the picture does not look so rosy. In this respect, it is inferior to the leading armies of NATO countries, such as the USA, Great Britain, Germany, and France.

A significant part of the armaments and equipment are still Soviet models. So, the main part of the tank park is made up of T-72 tanks, produced under a Soviet license in the 1980s. The main infantry fighting vehicle (BMP) is the first Soviet BMP-1, which was put into service in the USSR back in 1966. The 122-mm self-propelled howitzer Gvozdika was put into service in the USSR in 1971, and the Dana howitzer cannon is also a 1970s weapon.

Self-propelled gun-howitzer vz. 77 "Dana". Source: tumblr.com.

Multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) "Grad" and RM-70 belong to the systems of the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s. Polish fighters MiG-29A and UB are the first series aircraft built in the 1980s, which are inferior to the latest modifications of this aircraft. The Su-22M4 fighter-bombers are outdated (their Russian counterparts, the Su-17M4, were decommissioned back in the mid-1990s).

Poland does not have a modern air defense system, the Soviet anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) in service (including those that have undergone modernization in Poland) do not meet modern requirements.

After Poland joined NATO, the country began to receive weapons from other countries of the Alliance (first of all, "second-hand"). So, in 2002-2003. Poland received almost free of charge 128 Leopard 2A4 tanks, which were previously in service with the Bundeswehr. In 2014-2015. the troops received 14 more Leopard 2A4 tanks and 91 Leopard 2A5 tanks (all of them were previously also in service with the German ground forces).

In 2004, Germany transferred to Poland (at a symbolic price of one euro per plane) 22 MiG-29 fighters, which the Bundesluftwaffe inherited from the former GDR after the unification of Germany. The Polish military fleet received in 2002-2004. from Norway, four German-built Cobben submarines in the 1960s. last century and in 2000 and 2002. from the USA two frigates of the "Oliver Hazard Perry" type, built in 1980

The largest purchase of new equipment was 48 American F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter-bombers, one of the last series received by the Polish Air Force in 2006-2008.

F-16 Fighting Falcon. Source: f-16.net.

The national defense industry also contributed to the rearmament. We are talking mainly about modified Soviet models of equipment and weapons, or about production under foreign licenses. On the basis of the Polish version of the Soviet AK-74 (wz.88 Tantal) assault rifle, the wz.96 Beryl assault rifle (already chambered for 5.56 mm NATO) was developed and adopted in 1997.

In 1995-2002. produced the main battle tank PT-91 Twardy (deep modernization of the Soviet T-72). In 2004, Rosomak wheeled multipurpose armored combat vehicles (AFVs) began to be produced under a Finnish license. The Spike anti-tank missile system is being produced under an Israeli license. On the basis of the Soviet MLRS BM-21 Grad, the WR-40 Langusta was developed and put into production.

WR-40 Langusta. Source: wikimedia.org.

The 155mm Krab self-propelled howitzer was created on the basis of the modernized chassis of the T-72 tank using the license-produced turret of the British AS-90 self-propelled howitzer. However, due to problems with the engine and chassis, only eight SPGs were delivered (in 2012), which, according to the British reference book The Military Balance 2016, are no longer included in the Polish Armed Forces. All subsequent vehicles of this type, the production of which will resume after modifications in 2016, will use the chassis of the South Korean self-propelled howitzer K9 Thunder.

Modernization of the Polish Armed Forces

The current modernization of the Polish Armed Forces is carried out on the basis of two documents approved by the Ministry of National Defense on December 11, 2012. These are the Technical Modernization Plan and the Armed Forces Development Program for 2013-2022. In total, it is planned to spend about $ 43 billion on the purchase and modernization of weapons and military equipment.

In particular, it is planned, starting in 2017, to upgrade all Leopard 2A4 tanks to the new Leopard 2PL standard. Delivery of wheeled armored combat vehicles Rosomak will continue, incl. in new versions. In 2016, the production of 120 mm Rak self-propelled mortars of 120 mm caliber on a wheeled chassis begins. New vehicles are being developed on a universal modular tracked chassis (UMPG) - a heavy Gepard fire support vehicle with a 120-mm cannon (to replace the PT-91 and T-72 tanks) and a light Borsuk (to replace the BMP-1). It is planned to purchase 7 batteries of 155-mm wheeled self-propelled howitzers Kryl (from 2017). The gunners will also receive the new WR-300 Homar MLRS with a firing range of up to 300 km (60 installations are to be purchased by 2022).

Self-propelled mortar Rak. Source: armyman.info.

Under the Kruk rearmament program, 24 American AH-64 Apache combat helicopters will be purchased and built under license (to replace the Mi-24). It was planned to purchase 50 H225M Caracal helicopters from Airbus as multipurpose helicopters, but on October 4, 2016 negotiations on their acquisition were interrupted. Now the only real contender for the purchase is the S-70i helicopter, which is assembled in Poland at the PZL-Mielec enterprise owned by the American company Sikorsky Aircraft. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), incl. drums.

It is planned to buy 64 fifth-generation fighters for the Air Force with deliveries of the first in 2021. The modernization plan does not say about their specific type, but given that other options are not visible, these will be the American F-35A Lightning II. Polish F-16 fighter-bombers will be armed with American AGM-158 JASSM cruise missiles with a range of 370 km. It is expected that the first copies of the missiles will arrive in 2017. In the future, it is planned to purchase AGM-158B JASSM-ER missiles with an increased flight range (925 km).

F-35A Lightning II.

Armed forces of the Warsaw Pact countries. Polish People's Army September 18th, 2017

Hello dear.
If last time, you and I remembered the most combat-ready army among the Warsaw Pact allies - the Volksarmee (then today we will recall the most numerous and well-equipped - because they produced part of the weapons themselves. And this, of course, is the armed forces of the Polish People's Republic (Poland ), which were traditionally called the Polish People's Army (although this is not entirely true).


Poland is one of the winners of the Second World War.

2 armies of the Polish army fought bravely side by side with the Red Army and even took Berlin (we all remember "Three four Poles, a Georgian tankman and a dog. By the way, I love this movie dearly, and sometimes I remember about it:,). At least 2 Polish corps ( plus navy and aviation) fought as part of the British forces against Nazism, plus partisans and rebels.

Therefore, post-war Poland gathered a strong army. Now many politicians in Poland are trying to forget about the times of the People's Republic of Poland, and some are not entirely mentally ill people who have not served a day, but by the will of fate, ascended to the most political Olympus, and at all stigmatize those Polish military who honestly and faithfully served the People's Republic of Poland (remember Pan Wojciech Jaruzelski, may he rest in peace, and many others). But I think it’s a matter of time. The foam will go away and in Poland itself they will react less harshly to the Polish People's Republic and its armed forces.

Some people blame the fact that Poland was too much in the wake of the USSR during those years, and even the Minister of Defense in the People's Republic of Poland was the Soviet Marshal Rokossovsky. Well, first of all, what other options did the Poles have in those years? Secondly, Konstantin Konstantinovich (Ksaveryevich) Rokossovsky, not only is IMHO the best military leader of the Second World War (we talked about this here:,
so also an ethnic Pole. Plus not only the Marshal of the Soviet Union, but also the Marshal of Poland. As it is not shameful :-) And thirdly, gradually the Poles received almost the greatest autonomy in the entire Warsaw bloc. So....


Moreover, I repeat, I believe that the Polish People's Republic had a pretty cool army, which is worth being proud of. But these are all lyrics, let's move on to some specifics (the path is not very extensive).
The Polish People's Army is, after all, no longer an official name, but simply accepted in the country itself and abroad. Officially, from 1945 to 1952, it was simply called the Polish Army, then the Polish Armed Forces, and since 1955, the Armed Forces of the Polish People's Republic.

The Polish People's Army was subdivided into ground forces, air force, air defense, navy and internal troops. The Border Guard Troops had a special status, which were equidistant from both the army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but at the same time, they drew personnel from both sources. The size of the peacetime army ranged from 200 to 300 thousand servicemen. In the event of war, it increased to 650,000.


The army was headed by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party, the chairman of the State Council, the chairman of the National Defense Committee, the head of the Armed Forces. He became the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in the event of war. In the 1980s, this position was held by the already mentioned General of the Army Wojciech Jaruzelski.
In peacetime, the army was led by the Minister of Defense with the help of the Chief of the General Staff. The last Minister of Defense of the People's Republic of Poland was General of the Army Florian Sivitsky.


F. Sivitsky
The ground forces (and the army aviation attached to them) were subdivided into 3 districts:
Warsaw, Pomeranian and Silesian. The coolest was Pomeranian.


The Polish army consisted of five tank and eight mechanized divisions, as well as several separate tank regiments. In total, Poland had 3100 tanks, of which 300 were T-72b slingshot or T-72G.

The Air Force consisted of 3 divisions. The headquarters was in Poznan. In service with both Soviet aircraft such as the Su-22, MiG-21, MiG-23, several MiG-29s and their own things released under license or developed by the Poles themselves - such as the PZL TS-11 "Iskra"


MiG-23

According to the doctrine, the Navy is preparing to support an amphibious operation on the Jutland Peninsula in case of war, and, therefore, emphasis was placed on the creation of amphibious ships, supplemented by powerful forces in the form of torpedo and missile boats and minesweepers.


There were also submarines in the fleet. There was a naval aviation division. The main bases are Gdynia, Gdansk, Swinoustje.
And the Poles were (and still are) a cool naval special forces detachment "Formosa". I wrote about him here:

The air defense forces were divided into 3 corps with headquarters in Warsaw, Bydgoszcz and Wroclaw. The missile and artillery systems of the USSR and Poland were in service.


The Internal Troops were subdivided into the Internal Defense Army and the Territorial Defense Army.
Finally, Poland had a good military education - there were four military academies and eleven higher education schools trained cadets at the highest professional level.
A strong and well-equipped army took part in almost all the exercises of the Warsaw Pact, as well as in the events of 1968 in Czechoslovakia.

Of course, the Poles had an interesting and bright dress uniform. You will not be confused, especially because of the shoulder straps:


and, of course, a headdress of a special shape, which we call a confederate (about her here here.

We all know what the Polish Army is. The history lessons were hardly in vain. However, much is forgotten. In the article, we will recall the history of the Polish Army in order to better possess information and understand the course of some historical events. This topic will be very interesting not only for historians, but also for everyone who is interested in the chronology of the events of the war.

What is the Polish Army?

It is a combined arms formation or army. The history of the Polish Army begins in the USSR in 1944. The army consisted mainly of Poles. There were also many ordinary servicemen of the USSR Armed Forces of various nationalities. In official documents and orders it is called "1st Polish Army".

The army was involved in the Great Patriotic War, specifically in the following operations:

• Lublin-Brest.
• Warsaw-Poznan.
• East Pomeranian.
• Berlin.

The beginning of the story

The military formation was created in the spring of 1944 with the number of soldiers serving in the Polish corps. It was created a year earlier. Infantry Division. T. Kosciuszko served as the basis for the formation of the corps. Not only Poles could join the army. It was also open to Soviet citizens with Polish roots. The Soviet Union took this military formation seriously and provided it with decent military support. Sigmund Berling became the army commander.

In the spring of the same year, the Polish Army received new soldiers. Arrived 52 thousand people, Unfortunately, among them there were no more than 300 officers. There were even fewer attendants, and they served only in the pre-war Polish army. All this significantly aggravated the already present problem of the lack of competent officers.

Already in the summer, the Polish Army could boast: cavalry, armored, anti-aircraft artillery brigades, 2 air regiments and 4 infantry brigades. By 1944, the personnel numbered 90 thousand people.

The beginning of hostilities

In the summer of 1944, hostilities began. It should be said right away that the Polish Army played an important role in the Second World War. Military operations were carried out under the operational leadership of the 1st Belorussian Front. At the end of the month, part of the army crossed. As a result, the army entered the territory of Poland. In July of the same year, the 1st Army of the Polish Army united with the Army of Ludova (partisan army). Only after this event, the army began to be called the united Polish Army, but the first name still continued to appear in the documents.

By that time, there were already 100,000 servicemen in the army. At the same time, about 2,500 young soldiers were trained as officers, and about 600 as pilots. The army possessed about 60,000 machine guns and rifles, had at its disposal about 4,000 machine guns, 779 radio stations, 170 motorcycles, 66 aircraft.

Replenishment of forces

In July 1944, the 1st Polish Tank Corps was created as part of the Army, commanded by Colonel Jan Rupasov. At this time, the Polish army managed to get to the eastern bank of the Vistula, which served as the beginning of the battles to conquer the left bank territory. A little later, the army fought on the Magnushevsky bridgehead. It is also worth noting that the already known armored brigade fought on the western bank of the river for the Studzian bridgehead.

In August 1944, the Polish Committee for National Liberation issued a decree on mobilization, which provided for the conscription of young men born in the years 1921-1924 into the army. All military specialists, officers and sub-officers fit for service were also called up. As a result of this order, in just a few months, the Polish armed forces were replenished with several dozen newly arrived soldiers. Approximately 100 thousand people were drafted from the liberated territory of Poland, the rest from the USSR. At the end of autumn 1944, there were about 11,500 servicemen from the USSR in the Polish Army.

An interesting fact is that the army had deputy commanders for work with political agencies and chaplains. At the same time, the deputy commander of the army, Piotr Yaroshevich, in the future became the prime minister of Poland.

Liberation of Warsaw

In autumn 1944, the Polish armed forces were able to liberate Prague. After that, an ill-considered attempt was made to force the Vistula, which failed. In the winter of 1945, the army took an active part in defending the Polish Army in World War II, in this operation, it acted as follows:

• the main forces of the army crossed the Vistula;
• The 2nd Infantry Division was engaged in forcing the Vistula, it was she who began the operation to attack Warsaw from the north;
• The Soviet 31st Special Armored Train Division and the 6th Infantry Division of the Polish Army in the Prague area crossed the Vistula.

A little later, the Polish Army liberated Bydgoszcz, carrying out an operation to break through the central part of Poland. After a while, the main forces were concentrated on the assault on Kohlberg. At the same time, the Polish First Armored Brigade attacked Gdansk as part of the East Pomeranian operation. The army stopped at Stetin to calculate the losses. They accounted for about 3,000 missing and 5,400 killed.

By 1945, the army numbered 200,000. This number is 10 of the total number of soldiers who participated in the Berlin operation. During its holding, the Polish army lost about 7,000 killed and 4,000 missing.

Aid to the USSR

It is impossible to ignore the moment that the Soviet Union has invested enormous material and human resources in the creation of the army. In 1944, the Soviet Union handed over to the Polish military units about 200,000 carbines and rifles, as well as a huge number of anti-aircraft, light and rear machine guns, anti-tank rifles, submachine guns, mortars, tanks, armored vehicles and aircraft. And this is if you do not take into account captured and training weapons. During the second half of 1944, Soviet educational institutions trained more than 5,000 Polish servicemen.

Reaction

At the same time, in Great Britain, the Polish émigré government, as well as those who supported it in Poland (the Home Army), reacted very negatively to the fact that Polish armed formations were being created on the territory of the USSR. They spoke extremely negatively about such activities in the USSR. The reaction was covered in the press, where there were statements of the kind that Berling's army was not a Polish army, as well as that the Polish Army was a detachment of mercenaries in Soviet service.

Summing up the article, let's say that this army had a decent history. She took part in a number of critical operations. At the same time, it was the Soviet Union that played a key role in the creation and maintenance of the army. The army has become an example of how forces can unite when needed. Our people had conflicts with the Poles, but still it is worth recognizing that we are kindred close peoples.