"Probe with bayonets. If you encounter mush, proceed; if you encounter steel, withdraw." Vladimir Lenin. Deterrence means having the will - and the kit - to keep the enemy out. Eighty years ago Poland showed the will, but lacked the modern equipment to protect itself against the combined might of the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe and Red Army. A lesson to be learnt. Ukraine has been defending itself against Russia for five years; an ageing Vladimir Putin, losing popular support at home may seek to lash out, annexing Belarus and forcing a land corridor to Kaliningrad. Or organise incursions into the Baltic countries.
Poland must stand ready, but having properly equipped armed forces - air, land and sea - is not cheap.
Below: Boeing AH-64 Apache Longbow, unit cost $33m/129 million złoty.
Below: Abrams M1A2 main battle tank. Unit cost: $9m/35million złoty.
Below: CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter - can carry up to 53 fully-equipped soldiers into combat. In service for 57 years now! Unit cost: $39m/152 million złotys.
Below: the star of the 2019 show - the Lockheed-Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter. Although this is but a 1:1 scale mock-up, it attracted crowds willing to wait up to 40 minutes to sit in the cockpit. Russia has nothing comparable. These would replace the old Soviet-era fighters in the Polish Air Force. Unit cost: $80m/312 million złotys.
Below: the Polish police have just bought three Polish-assembled Sikorsky S70i Black Hawk helicopters. But look at that fearsome armament - in particular, the six-barrel rotary machine gun in the front side-window. Needed by the police?
Below: the prototype Borsuk armoured personnel carrier - Poland needs these to replace its fleet of ageing and vulnerable Soviet-era BWP-1s.
Below: the Leopard tank, mainstay of Poland's armoured forces - behind it the PT-91 Twardy tank. Poland has around 230 of each type of tank in its fleet - one of Europe's largest. But then Russia boasts 20,000 tanks.
This time four years ago:
Low water level - Jeziorki lakes
This time five years ago:
Around the Czachówek diamond, again
This time eight years ago:
Second line of the Metro runs into delays
This time nine years ago
Army helicopters in action at Kielce defence show
This time ten years ago:
World's largest helicopter over Jeziorki
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1 comment:
Well, 2% of GDP budget sounds good, but isn't that spent on things not exactly helping our defense needs? I understand it's nice to have planes to transport the government officials, but I would feel safer if our army got some decent helicopters. And I think many people would feel better if there was a proper tender process for procurement of all these things. Poland bought 3 Boeing 737-800 planes in March 2017, on last possible day to use 2016 budget - do you really feel safer because each person living in Poland, from newborns to elderly citizens, just spent over 50 zlotys on planes which, apart from livery and seat arrangement, don't really differ from ones Ryanair is flying?
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