How to Build an Army of the Future

The transformation of the army as described in the paper is based on 7 pillars. The authors of the concept want the armed forces to importantly increase their numbers. By 2039, 300,000 soldiers were to be in active service. That's 200,000 reservists. any of them will service in the recently created reserve of advanced readiness.

The number of soldiers is to go hand in hand with their quality. The General Staff intends to manage the talents properly, but besides consistently build among the uniformed ethos of the winner. In addition, the army is to be open to various types of innovation, both human resources management and method innovations. “This approach allows to destruct the number of possible opponents and build credible powers of deterrence and defence of the state,” said Colonel Pietrzak.

In subsequent years, the army will make the ability to conduct multi-domain operations. More simply: to operate simultaneously on land, sea, air, cyberspace, and space, assuming that all types of troops can work closely together, exchange information, coordinate their actions.

The information space and alleged electromagnetic spectrum will besides stay within the armed forces' interest. Here, it will be crucial to be able to carry out cognitive operations, which, by imposing appropriate narratives, even in social media, or jamming the communication systems of the opponent, will let to influence its widely understood perception.

The coming years will be marked by the continuation of the extended method modernization of the army, and in all domains. It's translated into fresh tanks, rocket launchers, ships. In this context, however, it will be peculiarly crucial to build an integrated anti-aircraft, anti-missile and anti-drone defence system. In the event of an attack, it will guarantee the protection of its own territory, functioning within its institutions and, above all, the population. All this affects the resilience of the state.

Equally crucial will be the ability to direct precise punches to long distances, so as to harm the key objects and systems of the opponent. This is in line with the strategy of the General Staff with the English “deterrence by punishment” or “punishment by punishment”. A possible opponent must be aware that any impact will be confronted with an immediate and effective reaction that will consequence in severe losses.

Another pillar of transformation concerns unmanned and autonomous systems. According to the assumptions of the programme's authors, all kind of military should be saturated as far as possible with drones capable of carrying out tasks at tactical, operational and strategical level. This process should be complemented by the implementation of artificial intelligence. AI tools are intended to support planning processes and command. This in turn gives the possible opponent an information and decision-making advantage.

As Colonel Pietrzak explains, the improvement plan of the armed forces was based on 2 classified documents. The first is the President's "Main directions for the improvement of the Armed Forces and their preparation for the defence of the state", and the second is "Detailed directions for the reconstruction and modernization of the Armed Forces", approved by the government.

– The adoption of the plan for the years 2025 to 2039 is simply a key step in the long-term transformation of the Polish Army and the construction of modern, many and technologically advanced armed forces capable of effective deterrence, and, if necessary, to carry out a winning defence operation, concludes Colonel Pietrzak.