Military, innovative and social – in specified 3 dimensions the “Tarcza East” task should be seen – argued Deputy Minister Cezary Tomczyk during the debate on the national programme of deterrence and defence. According to MON, military investments in north-eastern Poland will not only increase security, but can besides be a chance for local communities to develop.
The Defence24 Days conference is held in Warsaw, where representatives of the planet of politics, the Polish Army, manufacture experts and journalists discuss the most crucial topics in the field of defence. The event is organised by the Defence portal24. Among the issues raised, there could be no shortage of the Tarcza East programme, the largest infrastructure operation in decades to strengthen the state border. Cezary Tomczyk, Secretary of State at the Ministry of National Defence, General Marek Wawrzyniak, Head of the Board of Military Engineering at the General Command, and Brig-Gen Krzysztof Stańczyk, Commander of the Territorial Defence Forces took part in the panel.
Deputy Minister Cezary Tomczyk pointed out that he should not treat the "Tarky East" task solely in military terms, although strengthening the border defence is the most crucial nonsubjective of the MON. “The programme besides has an innovative and social dimension,” he pointed out. In this first area, the ministry hopes that the construction of the “Tarchy East” will be an impetus for the Polish defence industry. It is primarily about the improvement and implementation of equipment to be utilized for the implementation of the programme. Among the products that MON is looking for are, among others, equipment for reconnaissance and observation, anti-drone systems or machines for fast construction of fortifications and trenches. – We want the money spent by the MON to go first to Polish companies, with as much participation of local companies as possible – Tomczyk argued.
This aspect was besides discussed by Gen. Lorenzo. The head of the Military Engineering Board pointed out that his subordinate engineering troops, who are liable for implementing plans to build defensive installations, request modern and proven equipment. In his opinion, cooperation between the military and Polish business in this field will be beneficial for both parties. The Ministry of Defence has already taken active action to improve cooperation with entrepreneurs. 1 specified initiative was March Forum of the Polish Armed Industries.
The social dimension of the “Hard East” is, above all, an chance for border regions to catch up on civilizational delays, specified as road and telecommunications infrastructure. Cezary Tomczyk pointed out that the areas where military fortifications are created are a very sparsely populated and urbanized area and so deprived of a dense network of roads or satisfactory access to GSM or the Internet. Building this kind of infrastructure, which is 1 of the objectives of the “Hard East”, will besides improve the standard of surviving of the local community and operating conditions for business.
General Krzysztof Stańczyk, commander of the territorial defence troops, represented the formation in the debate, which will be tasked with day-to-day management of the “Tarcza East” installations during peacetime. For this purpose, the WOT is to establish the Border defence Component. It will consist of 4 brigades of territorial defence troops located in east and north-eastern Poland. Reinforced (up to 20 percent of their soldiers are to be on professional contracts) and decently equipped COP sub-units will play the function of the operator of the “Tight East” and in the event of a crisis they will be liable for coordinating the installation by operating troops.
