Wisowab Kukwa, who was appointed chief of staff of Poland's armed forces last February, has no doubt that Russia is waiting for the right circumstances to expand the war in Ukraine and attack one of the NATO members. "As soon as the Russians come to the conclusion that such an attack on one of the NATO members would lead to the disintegration of the unity of the Western alliance, they will immediately do so," Kokwa told a delegation of Western journalists in Warsaw. "Deterrence is the best guarantee against such an attack, and the best deterrence is maintaining the unity of the ranks in NATO and sending a message of determination to Moscow. It is very important to understand the Russian mentality, which is very different from that of Western democracies. The main issue that concerns the Russians is the dismantling of NATO unity. The Russians understand only the language of force, and they must be answered only in this language. It is naïve to think that we can change their way of thinking to a more civilized one."
Polish Chief of Staff Wiswab Kukwa, Photo: Eldad Beck
One of the NATO countries threatened by Russia is Poland. According to the Polish chief of staff, the Polish army is ready to fight despite the shortage of military equipment created by the supply of combat equipment to Ukraine, including hundreds of tanks and armored personnel carriers. However, the Polish defense concept is built on a regional approach and therefore, according to him, the Ukrainians must not lose the war and Poland is doing its best to assist the Ukrainian war effort. "The most important thing we are doing is accelerating the lessons learned from what is happening on the ground and applying these lessons directly to the training of Ukrainian soldiers. We shortened the time between gathering information from the battlefield and operational implementation of the lessons."
General Kokwa stresses that the Polish army is undergoing a rapid reorganization process. According to him, the willingness among young Poles to enlist in the army has increased significantly in the past two years, in such a way that the existing military infrastructure is struggling to meet the growing number of recruits. Poland's army currently numbers 175,000 soldiers. The Polish army is working to adapt the existing infrastructure to its needs, to equip itself with weapons systems that will ensure the existence of massive firepower, and is looking for a "game-changer" that will enable Poland to cope with the numerical inferiority of its army vis-à-vis the Russian army. "That element will probably be the development and production of UAVs, because we see that most of the tank hits that we transferred to Ukraine were caused by Russian drones, so we are also looking for effective anti-drone weapons."
As part of the military procurement, the question arises whether Poland will join other European countries that have acquired advanced Israeli defense systems. Kokwa clarifies that responsibility for military procurement decisions is not in his hands, but stresses: "Israel has some of the best military systems in the world. Examples of this are the 'Spur' rocket system we use and the 'Orbiter' drones. From my personal experience, the Israeli systems are among the best in the world. We appreciate them very much."
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