State-of-the-art equipment will be presented at the Polish Army Day parade on August 15 in Warsaw, announced the Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak.
The celebration of the DGRSZ holiday took place on Tuesday at the headquarters in Warsaw. In addition to Błaszczak and General Kukuła, the First Deputy of the Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, General Piotr Błazeusz, and other military commanders also took part.
During the ceremony, the head of the Ministry of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak thanked DGRSZ employees for their work.
Thank you for your commitment, thank you for co-creating this great process of expanding the Polish army. We can all be proud that the Polish army is developing so dynamically, both in terms of numbers and modernization of equipment
– he said.
This is a great achievement of the General Command of the NSSO. I am very happy that General Wiesław Kukuła has taken command
– said the head of the Ministry of National Defense.
On August 15 this year, a parade of the Polish army will take place in Warsaw […] during the parade we will be able to admire Polish soldiers who will present this state-of-the-art equipment
– said the head of the Ministry of National Defense in Warsaw during the celebration of the General Command of the Armed Forces.
Purchases of weapons
Błaszczak recalled the weapons purchases made in recent years and months, including HIMARS and Chunmoo rocket artillery, F-35 and FA-50 aircraft, as well as Abrams tanks, the first batch of which – refurbished vehicles previously used by the US marines were used – is to arrive by ship in the port of Szczecin-Świnoujście, as well as the recently carried out first bombardment of the “little Narew” air defense system. He also recalled that the units of the 18th Mechanized Division, deployed east of the Vistula, will be armed with American tanks.
He emphasized that the strength of the army is related to its size and drew attention to the importance of Allied cooperation and interoperability.
August 15 parades have been held since 2007. In 2019, the parade was moved to Katowice to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first Silesian Uprising. In the following years, the parade was discontinued due to the pandemic and later the war in Ukraine. The fact that the parade will take place in Warsaw again was announced in March this year by the Defense Minister.
“The best argument”
Mariusz Błaszczak confessed that his main ambition and mission as head of the Ministry of National Defense is to strengthen the Polish army. He expressed the belief that the best way to prevent external threats is to have strong, well-armed and organized armed forces.
It is important to me that the Polish army is strong, and that is what my mission is all about, to strengthen the Polish army. This is the best argument against all the threats we face outside our country, our task is to ensure that these threats do not penetrate the territory of the Republic of Poland.
— said the Minister of National Defense during the celebration of the Day of the General Command of the Armed Forces.
This strength is related to numbers, we can say that today the Polish army already has more than 172,000 soldiers […] we can say that the process of modernizing the equipment of the Polish army is very intensive today, for example, tonight a ship with the first Abrams tanks will arrive at the port of Szczecin-Świnoujście
Blaszczak added.
The latest equipment
The head of the Ministry of National Defense listed the arms purchases made by the government of Mateusz Morawiecki. The latest equipment of the Polish army includes aircraft from South Korea, as well as Borsuk combat vehicles and pro-Polish anti-aircraft systems.
The 20th Mechanized Brigade, which is part of the 16th Mechanized Division, is equipped with Korean K2 tanks and soon Korean FA-50 aircraft will be delivered to the Polish Air Force. I think it is our great achievement that we managed to get hold of these aircraft within a year […] next year we expect the F-35, the most modern aircraft in the world […] Polish Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles will be delivered to the Polish army later this year […] last week we witnessed the first shootings with the anti-aircraft and missile defense system Narew […] compared to the equipment used by the Polish army so far, with the post-Soviet equipment, this is a groundbreaking change, this is a fundamental change
– emphasized Mariusz Blaszczak.
Army organizational culture
General Wiesław Kukuła, General Commander of the Armed Forces, also spoke at the ceremony. As he noted, the Polish army and security situation are completely different from more than 9 years ago when the General Command was established. He recalled that DGRSZ was established to replace the commands of the Army, Air Force and Navy, which were disbanded at the end of 2013.
Today we are making the biggest transformation in our history. On the one hand, huge modernization programs are being carried out, we are getting the best equipment in the world. On the other hand, we are rapidly increasing our personnel potential. People are fully aware of the significance of these changes here. The General Command directs and is responsible for the execution of these processes
– said General Kukula.
The commanding general stressed that “we are facing some changes related to the adjustment of command structures to better manage the transformation of the armed forces.”
Changes that result in the improvement of our organizational agility and ability to support the efforts of subordinate units. We also devote a great deal of attention to strengthening the organizational culture of individual types of armed forces and to striking a balance between their specificity and the ability to act collectively.
– he said.
General Kukuła thanked his subordinates and noted that their “titanic effort does not go unnoticed”.
After the commander’s speech, officers and soldiers of various units, as well as civilian employees of the Ministry of Defense, were given orders for their work.
Parades on August 15 – on the occasion of the Day of the Polish Army – have been held since 2007. In 2019, the parade was moved to Katowice to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first Silesian Uprising. In the following years, the parade was discontinued due to the pandemic and later the war in Ukraine. The fact that the parade will again take place in Warsaw was announced in March this year by the Defense Minister.
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Source: wPolityce