Poland to create partisan army for protection against Russia
Poland intends to use a partisan army in the event of a war with Russia. By 2024, the paramilitary structure will include an estimated 53,000 volunteers and will reinforce defense and the potential of the Polish army, said Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, as cited by the Bild newspaper.
The article’s author, Dirk Müller Thederan, writes that if “the Russians really come”, Warsaw will resist them using all available means: fighters, missiles, helicopters and new transport aircraft. And the country also intends to establish its own kind of partisan army.
Some experts think that such part-time soldiers would act as “cannon fodder”. However, Poland intends to send roughly 100 partisans to the US to be trained in “partisan and asymmetric warfare tactics”. Afterwards, the soldiers will serve in so-called territorial defense armies.
The article notes that this type of army was established after the Law and Justice party came into power in Poland, since its members consider this a logical response to Russian aggression. By 2024, there are expected to be 53,000 people in the army.
“It is one of the elements of the Polish army’s defensive capabilities and deterrence potential,” Bild cites Defense Minister Blaszczak as saying.
Poland is spending a lot of money on this. In 2018, the territorial defense armies cost the country around €250 million. In the event of actual combat, they will cooperate closely with the regular army. During peace time, the partisans will fight against other threats, including attempts to destabilize the situation in the country and misinformation campaigns.
Military expert Charlie Gao believes that, if there is a war, Poland will not be a “wimp”. The Polish government is constantly increasing its defense expenditure, reforming the army and buying American military equipment. Its defense minister intends to buy five American C-130H military transport planes, each of which costs $30.1 million, as well as Javelin anti-tank missile systems and 32 F-35 fighters. Warsaw will spend nearly $6.5 billion on the fifth-generation American fighters.