Today’s military parade, organized on the occasion of the Polish Army Day, was commented on by General Mieczysław Bieniek in “Fakty po Faktach”. – An urgent operational need for us is anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense. We know that we have one fully operational, compatible with NATO systems, Patriot battery, the second one is reaching combat readiness – he reminded. At the same time, he emphasized that “we are strong as a coalition”.
On Tuesday afternoon, a military parade under the slogan “Strong White and Red” took place along the Wisłostrada in Warsaw. The main part of the parade began with the march of soldiers, the second part of the parade consisted of aviation shows. The third part of the parade was the passage of all kinds of military vehicles. In total, according to the Ministry of Defence, about 2,000 soldiers, 200 pieces of equipment and several dozen aircraft took part in the parade.
Tuesday’s parade was commented on “Fakty po Faktach” on TVN24 by General Mieczysław Bieniek, former deputy commander FOR THIS for transformation.
At the beginning, Bieniek expressed his “best wishes to all female soldiers, soldiers, all those who serve the homeland, civilian employees of the army and those who have already served.” “Thank you for your difficult, responsible service,” he said.
Referring to the parade, Bieniek reminded that “in the tradition of many countries there are parades organized on various occasions and they were addressed to our society, but also to other societies, especially to this neighbor who is aggressive and unpredictable.”
– The parade showed what we already have, what we will have, but also what we receive, for now in small amounts, what we can get in about three to five years – he noted. – What is very important in all this is the willingness of our soldiers who receive this equipment to master it quickly, although the large amount of this equipment that comes in really requires training centers, commitment, staff, because this equipment will not go to warehouses, but it must go to units, to training centers, to centers that are being created – he said.
“Security must transcend political divisions”
The general emphasized that “security must transcend political divisions, regardless of which political option is in power.” – Therefore, the continuity of security and foreign policy in this area should be maintained – he explained.
When asked about the assessment of the equipment shown at the parade and what equipment may be missing, Bieniek explained that “when organizing the process of modernizing the armed forces, we follow the so-called technical modernization plan”.
We have 16 programs. We all know that in the situation we have today beyond our eastern border, we have donated large amounts of equipment, both very modern and less modern. We handed over partly modernized T-72 tanks, Krab artillery systems, some mortars, a large amount of ammunition, so we have to supplement this and supplement it with the so-called urgent operational need – he mentioned.
He said that, among other things, this is done through the purchase of K2 or Abrams tanks. “They don’t come right away, but soon we’ll have the equivalent of one battalion,” he noted.
– An urgent operational need for us is anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense. We know that at the moment we have one fully operational, compatible with NATO systems Patriot battery, the second one is reaching combat readiness, but we are connected to the NATO air defense system – he explained.
He stressed that “we are strong as a coalition”. “There is no self-defense state, except maybe the United States and maybe the Russian Federation with a nuclear capability,” he said.
– It is gratifying that the pieces of equipment that we lack, such as transport helicopters, are slowly starting to arrive. This will last too. The AH helicopters shown today are only in very small numbers. We had a contract for (helicopters – ed.) Caracal, which unfortunately was canceled under the previous minister – he reminded.
Black Hawk and Apache helicopters during the air paradeTVN24
He noted, however, that “the announcement of armored, wheeled and tracked personnel carriers, as well as transport helicopters, all increase the mobility of the army.” – And we see how important mobility is on the modern battlefield: we have to move troops quickly to any place, in hiding – he explained.
General Mieczysław Bieniek in “Fakty po Faktach”TVN24
Bieniek: we have muscles, we must also have a brain
Bieniek also mentioned that three types of tanks will be delivered to Poland. “We will have K2, Abrams and Leopards,” he said.
But, as he said, “we must have aviation, cyber defense forces, means of long-range reconnaissance.” – This is also supposed to be soon, due to the fact that we have contracted Swedish long-warning aircraft – he said.
The general pointed out that all he mentioned were “muscles.” “But we must also have a brain,” he said. He specified that he was referring to the president’s announcement about changing the structure of the army’s command and reminded that it was included in the law on defense of the homeland.
– There it was written that the armed forces consist of the Land Forces, the Air Force, the Navy, special forces, cyber troops, but it did not say that these troops are commanded by commanders. Today we have the General Command of the Armed Forces and we do not have commanders, but we have bosses. So it seems that the announcement will be a return to the Type Commanders of the Armed Forces, to the Joint Operations Command and of course the Chief of the General Staff, who will probably, according to this act, be planned for the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces during the war, but will also be prepared for this in peacetime, he said.
According to Bieńek, “this would form a logical whole, because most of the control and command systems in not only NATO countries are organized.” “But we’ll see how it goes,” he said.
Main photo source: PAP/Pawel Supernak