On 9 January, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Protection, Mariusz Blaszczak, introduced the official formation of a brand new fifth division of the Polish Armed Forces – the first Legions Infantry Division. The division might be stationed within the North-Japanese area of Poland – Podlasie, on the Suwalki Hole. Its creation comes 4 years after Poland’s final new division was shaped – the 18th Mechanized Division stood up again in 2018.
Polish army outlet Defence 24 reported that the division will consist of 4 brigades (every composed of 4 battalions) and attachedthem might be an artillery brigade. That is supposedly a results of the experiences of the battle in Ukraine that influenced the reformation of artillery items within the Polish Armed Forces.
At an occasion unveiling the brand new division at Białystok, Blaszczak stated: “Ukraine was invaded by Russia. Our process, the duty of the Polish authorities, is to construct a robust Polish Army. In order that the aggressor wouldn’t dare to assault our nation.”
Poland goals to bolster its defensive potential by preserving three foremost divisions in line within the East (the sixteenth Mechanized, 18th Mechanized and 1st Infantry Divisions) with two divisions in reserve within the West (eleventh Armored and twelfth Mechanized).
The division might be geared up with probably the most fashionable autos and methods quickly to be coming into Polish service. An armored battalion geared up with M1A2 SEP v3 and the not too long ago bought M1A1 could also be built-in into the division. It’s sure that the hooked up artillery brigade might be geared up with the Polish AS Krab and Korean K9 howitzers which are part of the huge modernization presently underway within the Polish Armed Forces.
One such modernization underway is the reformation of the eleventh Artillery Regiment into the first Artillery Brigade, a part of sixteenth Mechanized Division. The regiment itself started to be developed right into a brigade in December 2022 and was one of many first Polish items to obtain Korean army {hardware} in type of a whole self-proppeled artillery battalion geared up with 24 K9 howitzers.
The first Infantry Division marks one other milestone in Polish army reform and growth, serving the technique of bolstering nationwide protection. Its placement in a strategic area exhibits the priorities of the Ministry of Protection and classes discovered from the Warfare in Ukraine.
