Polish Army (Polish Wojsko Ladowe) is the name applied to the Army branch of the Military Forces of Poland. It is 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.
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
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.
External links