APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070031-4
The ground forces employ basically the same maintenance system as the Soviet Ground Forces. Maintenance standards are adequate for peacetime requirements and are improving. Maintenance courses for all types of equipment are conducted for both officer and enlisted personnel. Command inspection and the increased emphasis placed on the individual care of equipment help to ensure proper maintenance. In addition, the number of mobile ordnance repair facilities is being increased to meet the demand for rapid movement in modern warfare.
Current production of ground forces materiel includes a variety of arms and artillery, explosives, medium tanks, armored personnel carriers, general purpose medium trucks, artillery, signal and support equipment. Toxic chemical warfare agents are manufactured in quantities adequate to support research activity and some troop training. The USSR has provided missiles, some types of artillery, light amphibious and heavy tanks, and various types of electronic equipment. Armored personnel carriers have been obtained from the USSR, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. Small quantities of transport vehicles are received from East Germany. In a wartime situation, Poland could expand its industry to meet most army materiel requirements, with the exception of light amphibious tanks and heavy tanks, missiles, and various types of electronic equipment.
D. Naval Forces (S)
The navy is the largest and best balanced in Eastern Europe. Current strength is adequate for the defense of eastern waters, but western patrol forces still fall short of requirements. Hence, reliance on the Soviet naval force at Swinoujscie probably will continue for another year or two. (The Soviet force is composed of destroyer escorts, large guided missile boats, submarine chasers, and fast patrol boats.) Inshore defense of the maritime frontier between Swinoujscie and the Gulf of Danzig is largely the function of Polish naval coast artillery batteries and a coast guard element of the Frontier Guard.
The greatest weakness of the navy is in anti-submarine warfare (ASW). However, improvements are being made. Also, the East German Navy is emphasizing ASW and, under the Warsaw Pact is responsible for that function in the southwestern Baltic. The Polish Navy has a corresponding responsibility for amphibious assault. Both navies have minesweeping and missile/torpedo boat strike forces.
1. Organization
Overall responsibility for supervision of the naval forces is vested in the Commander of the Navy. His Deputy Commander for Political Matters oversees the political training and welfare elements of the navy. The Deputy Commander for Technical Matters oversees a wide range of technical and support functions within the navy. Administrative, supply, and service organizations that support the navy come under the Deputy Commander for Support Matters. The Deputy Commander for General Military Matters supervises the naval shore establishment and territorial defense elements. Operational planning, personnel administration, and combat training are controlled by the Chief of Main Navy Staff. Coordination of operations by naval afloat forces is the responsibility of the Deputy Commander for Operational Matters.
Naval afloat forces consist of the 8th and 9th Coast Defense Flotillas, the 3rd Flotilla, and the 2nd Landing Ship Brigade. The 8th and 9th Flotillas are each responsible for the protection of half of Poland's coastal waters. Both operate two minesweeper divisions and one destroyer type each, and the 9th Flotilla has a submarine chaser division. The 3rd Flotilla operates ships with offensive capabilities, including a destroyer division, submarine division, and patrol boat brigade. The latter comprises all the navy's large guided missile and motor torpedo boats. The 3nd Landing Ship Brigade, like the flotillas, is directly subordinate operationally to the Commander of the Navy. However, it is administratively controlled by the Commander of the Swinoujscie Garrison.
The navy coastal forces comprise those naval shore elements responsible for defense and security operations in coastal areas. These elements, all of which are under the supervision of the Deputy Commander for General Military Matters, would be subordinated to the Territorial Defense Forces in wartime. The largest single segment of these forces is the Coast Artillery Division, which controls 22 artillery batteries and six to eight coast defense missile batteries. The Navy Air and Air Defense Commands are responsible for the Naval Air Force and the 60th Navy Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment. The network of coastal warning stations of the Communications Service support both the Coast Artillery Division and the Navy Air and Air Defense Commands. The Navy Sapper Service, 6th Independent Navy Communications Regiment, and Internal Military Service, a military police organization, are also in the category of navy coastal forces.
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070031-4
