- published: 19 Nov 2015
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Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej ("Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland", abbreviated SZ RP; popularly, Wojsko Polskie, abbreviated WP—roughly, the "Polish Military") are the national defense forces of Poland. The name has been used since the early nineteenth century, but can also be applied to earlier periods.
The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland are the Army (Wojska Lądowe RP), Navy (Marynarka Wojenna RP), Air Force (Siły Powietrzne RP) and Special Forces (Wojska Specjalne RP) and are under the command of the Ministry of National Defense (Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej). As of 2009, Poland has the world's twenty-first highest level of military expenditure, according to SIPRI. Polish soldiers have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and 23 Polish soldiers were killed in Iraq between the invasion of 2003 and Poland's withdrawal in 2008.
Pursuant to the National Security Strategy of the Republic of Poland, the supreme strategic goal of the Republic of Poland is to ensure favourable and secure conditions for the realization of national interests by eliminating external and internal threats, reducing risks and rightly assessing undertaken challenges and ably using existing opportunities. The Republic of Poland’s main strategic goals in the area of defence include:
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external and internal aggressors. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation's armed forces. Armed force is the use of armed forces to achieve political objectives.
The study of the use of armed forces is called military science. Broadly speaking, this involves considering offense and defense at three "levels": strategy, operational art, and tactics. All three levels study the application of the use of force in order to achieve a desired objective.
In most countries the basis of the armed forces is the military, divided into basic Armed services. However, armed forces can include other paramilitary structures. For example, according to the Lithuanian law on organisation of system of national defence and military service (version actual from November 11, 2004), the Lithuanian armed forces in case of war also include border guards, public police service, parts of Lithuanian Riflemen's Union and guerrillas.