The process of providing the armed forces with the necessary logistical means and resources has for years been inextricably linked to the use of economic potential. Adequate logistical support for soldiers has determined success in combat, and one of the ways to properly implement it has been to meet needs by utilizing local economic resources. Meeting the material needs of the military through the national economy, and primarily the ability to supply the armed forces with modern weaponry and equipment, has historically been and currently remains a fundamental factor in the state’s defensive strength. The purpose of this article is to indicate the contemporary role that the potential of the national economy plays in the process of supplying goods and services to the armed forces.
In contemporary conditions, civil-military cooperation in the supply of goods and services to the army plays a special role in ensuring the effectiveness of armed forces operations. These relations include the interaction of civilian and military economic units, both in times of peace, crisis (security threats), and war. The armed forces prepare to carry out logistical support tasks in cooperation with both domestic economic entities when performing tasks on their own territory, and with external partners when performing tasks outside of Poland. It is worth emphasizing that the basis of economic calculation in the armed forces is a comparative analysis of military effects and costs, and the way to achieve efficiency in expenditures on maintaining the military is proper cooperation between the army and economic entities in the field of supplying goods and services for defense needs.
Taking into account the preparations of national economy sectors for carrying out tasks in crisis and war conditions, and considering that in a peacetime national economy a portion of produced material goods for general use and military equipment production is allocated for military purposes, it can be observed that the main system of connections between the national economy and the military is meeting the material needs of the armed forces. Supplying the armed forces through the national economy includes material resources and services. The generic structure of these goods and services is extensive, and their volume is varied, depending mainly on the scale of defense needs, financial resources allocated for their satisfaction from the national income (state budget), and production potential.
In current market economy times, the scope of military-civilian contracts in the field of logistical support for troops is constantly increasing, and the scale of utilizing the potential of economic entities’ resources continues to grow, influencing the activities of military logistical bodies. As Z. Bako notes: “the armed forces’ demand for various types of material resources, of which weapons constitute the primary part in terms of value, is so diverse that, practically speaking, almost all branches of industry are involved in direct and indirect supplies. In many cases, production for military purposes has not even separated from total production, and it is often difficult to determine what part of it is civilian and what part is military”. This clearly shows how significant the interdependencies and relationships are between the national economy and the armed forces.
In order to determine the role and tasks of the national economy in providing goods and services to the military, it is necessary to outline the structure of the national economy and the planes of its utilization by the military. The national economy is the essential source supplying the state and society with products and services. Due to the existing connections and interdependencies, its potential determines the possibilities of creating the state’s defensive strength and creates conditions for meeting future defense needs. The national economy includes a collection of all economic entities as well as organizations and institutions cooperating with each other in the field of the economy, as well as all dependencies and feedback loops occurring between them. The entire economic process in the national economy is divided into two spheres: activity in the sphere of material production; activity in the sphere outside of material production. The spheres of the national economy and their tasks for the armed forces are shown in Figure 1.
Activity in the sphere of material production consists of expending labor and means of production for the purpose of directly obtaining natural goods (extractive industry, forestry, agriculture), processing them (manufacturing industry, construction), and furthermore for transporting and distributing these goods (freight transport, trade), as well as for transporting people (passenger transport) and transmitting information (communications). Within this sphere, the following sectors of the national economy are distinguished: industry; construction; agriculture; forestry; transport; communications; trade; other branches of material production. The mentioned sectors of the national economy are divided into branches (a group of enterprises or other units similar in the nature of the production process, purpose of production, etc.), and within them into industries (a branch of trade or production covering goods or services of one type). Activity in the sphere outside of material production consists of providing intangible services to individuals (education, healthcare, culture, etc.) or to society as a whole (state administration, national defense, finance, etc.). The connections between the military economy and the market economy in Poland are multiple and multi-faceted, depending on many factors, the most important of which is the budget of the Ministry of National Defense. Through the market, the armed forces are supplied with weaponry, equipment, materials, parts, sub-assemblies and assemblies, food products, uniforms, medicines, etc. The basic goods and services provided to the armed forces by the national economy are shown in Figure 2.
The article comes from the journal “Logistyka” 6/2009.