Introduction
How is the Military in Poland and how does it work to maintain Sucity and fight terrorism? In terms of Military and security forces, we have the Polish Armed Forces (Polskie Siły Zbrojne): Land Forces (Wojska Ladowe), Navy (Marynarka Wojenna), Air Force (Sily Powietrzne), Special Forces (Wojska Specjalne), Territorial Defense Forces (Wojska Obrony Terytorialnej), Cyberspace Defense Forces (Wojska Obrony Cyberprzestrzeni)
Ministry of Interior and Administration: Polish National Police (Policja); Border Guard (Straż Graniczna or SG) (2024).
Ministry of Interior and Administration: Polish National Police (Policja); Border Guard (Straż Graniczna or SG) (2024).
In Poland, Poland’s geographic location on NATO’s eastern flank and its history of foreign invasion underpin the Polish military’s heavy focus on territorial and border defense and supporting its NATO and EU security commitments; its chief concern is Russian aggression, particularly following Moscow’s seizure of Crimea in 2014 and full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in 2022, which has led to increased defense spending and modernization efforts, as well as efforts to boost the NATO and US military presence in Poland
since 2014, Poland has been hosting several NATO military formations designed to enhance the defense of Poland and NATO’s eastern flank, including a US-led multinational NATO ground force battlegroup as part of the Alliance’s Enhanced Forward Presence initiative, NATO fighter detachments at Malbork Air Base, a NATO-led divisional headquarters (Multinational Division Northeast), which coordinates training and preparation activities of its respective subordinate battlegroups in Poland and Lithuania, and a corps-level NATO field headquarters (Multinational Corps Northeast); since 2022, the US has established a permanent corps headquarters in Poland to command US rotational forces in Europe; Poland also participates in a variety of EU and NATO military deployments in Africa, the Baltic States, Southern Europe, and the Middle East; Poland provided considerable support to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, where more than 30,000 military personnel served over a 20-year period before the mission ended in 2021 (2023)
since 2014, Poland has been hosting several NATO military formations designed to enhance the defense of Poland and NATO’s eastern flank, including a US-led multinational NATO ground force battlegroup as part of the Alliance’s Enhanced Forward Presence initiative, NATO fighter detachments at Malbork Air Base, a NATO-led divisional headquarters (Multinational Division Northeast), which coordinates training and preparation activities of its respective subordinate battlegroups in Poland and Lithuania, and a corps-level NATO field headquarters (Multinational Corps Northeast); since 2022, the US has established a permanent corps headquarters in Poland to command US rotational forces in Europe; Poland also participates in a variety of EU and NATO military deployments in Africa, the Baltic States, Southern Europe, and the Middle East; Poland provided considerable support to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, where more than 30,000 military personnel served over a 20-year period before the mission ended in 2021 (2023)
Security and military information of Poland
| Military and security service personnel strengths | approximately 210,000 including air, ground, naval, special forces, and Territorial Defense Forces (2024) |
|---|---|
| Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the military's inventory consists of a mix of some Soviet-era and a growing amount of more modern, NATO-compatible, weapons systems; in recent years, the leading suppliers of armaments have included several European countries, South Korea, and the US; Poland has a large domestic defense sector that produces or provides upgrades to a wide variety of weapons systems, particularly ground systems such as tanks and other armored vehicles; it also cooperates with the European and US defense sectors (2023) |
| Military service age and obligation | 18-28 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; conscription phased out in 2009-12; professional soldiers serve on a permanent basis (for an unspecified period of time) or on a contract basis (for a specified period of time); initial contract period is 24 months; women serve in the military on the same terms as men (2023). note 1: as of 2019, women made up about 7% of the military's full-time personnel note 2: in May 2022, Poland announced a new 12-month voluntary military service program with recruits going through a one-month basic training period with a military unit, followed by 11 months of specialized training; upon completion of service, the volunteers would be allowed to join the Territorial Defense Forces or the active reserve, and have priority to join the professional army and be given preference for employment in the public sector; the program is part of an effort to increase the size of the Polish military |
| Military deployments | 210 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR); up to 180 Latvia (NATO); 190 Lebanon (UNIFIL); approximately 230 Romania (NATO) (2024). note 1: Poland has obligated about 2,500 troops to the Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine joint military brigade (LITPOLUKRBRIG), which was established in 2014; the brigade is headquartered in Poland and is comprised of an international staff, three battalions, and specialized units; units affiliated with the multinational brigade remain within the structures of the armed forces of their respective countries until the brigade is activated for participation in an international operation |
| Military expenditures | |
| Military Expenditures 2024 | 4.1% of GDP (2024 est.) |
| Military Expenditures 2023 | 3.9% of GDP (2023 est.) |
| Military Expenditures 2022 | 2.2% of GDP (2022) |
| Military Expenditures 2021 | 2.2% of GDP (2021) |
| Military Expenditures 2020 | 2.2% of GDP (2020) |
Terrorism
In Poland, the different Terrorist group(s) inlcude: Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS)
All Important Facts about Poland
Want to know more about Poland? Check all different factbooks for Poland below.
