The military parade scheduled for Tuesday is to be the culmination of the celebrations of the Polish Army Day, which began on Saturday. 2,000 soldiers are to take part in it, the army will present about 200 pieces of combat equipment, and almost a hundred aircraft will appear in the sky. On the night from Saturday to Sunday there was a dress rehearsal before the parade; earlier, on Saturday, military pilots practiced in the sky above Warsaw.
At the dress rehearsal before the parade, on Sunday night and early morning, you could see the march of soldiers of all types of the Polish Armed Forces, as well as e.g. Gendarmerie or WOT and allied forces. The equipment on display included: Rosomak armored personnel carriers in various versions, Rak self-propelled mortars, Krab and K9 gun-howitzers, HIMARS rocket launchers, as well as three types of tanks – Leopard 2, Korean-made K2, and Abrams, serving both in Polish and American forces.
The Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles and Baobab-K scatter mine-laying vehicles, as well as many technical, medical and logistic vehicles also appeared on the test.
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Rehearsal before the parade TVN24
“Everything is up to date”
The military parade scheduled for Tuesday is to be the culmination of the celebrations of the Polish Army Day, which began on Saturday. The parade will go along Warsaw’s Wisłostrada, about 2,000 soldiers are to take part in it, there will be about 200 pieces of combat equipment, as well as almost a hundred aircraft. On the night from Saturday to Sunday there was a dress rehearsal before the parade; earlier, on Saturday, military pilots practiced in the sky above Warsaw.
– Everything is buttoned up. At. On August 14 and 15, a parade on the occasion of the Polish Army Day will start here, on Wisłostrada. I cordially invite everyone, residents of Warsaw, Mazowsze, as well as guests from all over Poland. Let’s be here together on August 15, let’s thank the soldiers for their service, especially on the Polish-Belarusian border – said the Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak during a press briefing on Sunday morning, at the end of the rehearsal.
He added that not all soldiers will be able to celebrate. – Some of our soldiers will perform their service on the Polish-Belarusian border, ensuring the security of our homeland, sealing the border and repelling hybrid attacks – he pointed out.
– This parade will be different from the previous ones; we will be able to see how the process of modernizing the equipment of the Polish Army is progressing. So, the most modern equipment – both purchased in the United States, such as Abrams tanks, and purchased in South Korea, such as K2 tanks or K9 gun-howitzers. There will be over 200 units of combat equipment, over 90 aircraft, added the minister.
“We are looking forward to this holiday”
Błaszczak also said that equipment made in Polish armaments factories will be shown at the parade. – Here, I am primarily thinking about the Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles, which will debut during the parade on August 15, but also the Baobab scatter minelaying vehicles, a whole range of vehicles that have been produced by the Polish defense industry – Rosomak wheeled armored personnel carriers, Rak self-propelled mortars, as well as gun howitzers Krab – we are proud of this equipment, it is reliable equipment – enumerated the Minister of Defence.
– There will also be Patriots; we bought the first batteries in 2018, they are basically ready to take care of the safety of the sky over Poland – added the head of the Ministry of National Defense. He also announced that among the aircraft that will be on display, the parade will include, among others: Korean FA-50 light fighters, and Black Hawk helicopters, AW101 (the first machine of this type arrived in Poland last week), AW149, as well as F-35 fighters belonging to the US Air Force. Poland ordered 32 such fighters in 2020; the first of them will go to Poland next year.
The head of the Ministry of National Defense also announced that next week a decision on the consent of the US Congress to the sale of AH-64 Apache combat helicopters to Poland is expected; Poland wants to acquire 96 of these machines. Błaszczak announced that Apaches in American colors would also appear at the parade. As he added, earlier, next year, Apache “lent” by the US will be equipped with the Polish army.
– Next to the soldiers of the Polish Army, there will be soldiers of allied countries at the parade – both from the NATO battalion battle group stationed in Orzysz, i.e. American, British, Romanian and Croatian soldiers. There will also be French soldiers who actively participate in the EU mission training Ukrainians, there will be representatives of the Eurocorps, the corps in Szczecin (Multinational North-Eastern Corps – ed.), i.e. NATO soldiers. Among Polish soldiers, there will be a representation of all brigades that function in the Polish army, including soldiers of the types of Armed Forces, operational troops and WOT, as well as soldiers of the Cyberspace Defense Forces or Special Forces – Błaszczak mentioned.
The General Commander of the Branches of the Armed Forces, Gen. Wiesław Kukuła, and the commander of the Warsaw Garrison, Gen. Tomasz Dominikowski, also invited to the parade. – A very busy night is behind us, which ends the stage of our preparations for the parade. We are looking forward to this holiday and the opportunity to present our potential. I encourage all Poles to come here to Warsaw for our parade; and those who can’t do it, I invite you in front of the TV sets. Your presence will be the highest reward for us soldiers – said General Kukuła.
– We are after a week-long parade group at the Bemowo airport. The foot formation is very well prepared, very motivated. I cordially invite you to personally thank you for the effort put in by the soldiers in the preparation of this parade, General Dominikowski added.
Main photo source: PAP/Pawel Supernak