Polish Armed Forces and hybrid war: current and required capabilities

Abstract

The article describes the problems of Polish military forces in the context of a relatively new type of threat, commonly described as “hybrid warfare”. The first step of the analysis is a description of such threat, based on data gathered by Polish and foreign analytical centers. The next step is a presentation of the current state of Polish military forces – in terms of doctrine, organization, training and materiel (e.g. equipment). This kind of data analysis offers relevant information about defense capabilities that the Polish Armed Forces have and those which they lack. These capabilities are then compared to the challenges posed by hybrid warfare, thus providing insights on potential new capabilities which should be acquired as well as those which are unnecessary in the context of hybrid war.