As part of the Road to Warsaw Security Forum 2017 (WSF2017), the Casimir Pulaski Foudation organised number of events. War Game “HEGEMON: Baltic Security Scenario”, which is the part of newly launched Wargaming Studies and Simulations Programme at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation in cooperation with the Potomac Foundation, was one of those, organised upon Potomac’s proprietary HEGEMON, computer-based simulation platform from 23rd to 26th of January, 2017 in Warsaw.

The importance of the simulation was underlined by Dr. Phillip Karber, President of the Potomac Foundation, who pointed out that last year Russia announced the restorations of the First Guards Tank Army, disbanded after the end of the Cold War. Location of these forces around the Smolensk can be worrying, in particular in the context of the information coming from Moscow.

Thus, the purpose of the War Game Simulation was to assist in the development of a regional and NATO accepted understanding of the nature of the Russian military threat to the Baltic States and Poland as well as to identify force structure and defence planning requirements for defeating Russian General Staff plans for the occupation of the Baltic States and the disintegration of the European Union and NATO.

Most important objectives of the simulation included:

1) making Polish policymakers aware of national security issues in order to simplify the planning process;

2) provide information on the current shape of Russian military doctrine, operational plans and low-cost forces, as well as threats, including specific situations of the Baltic States;

3) creation of an informal forum for exchange of views on current military confinement based in the Baltic Sea Region, depending on whether this is possible in cooperation with international organizations.

Organizers achieved the successful results in all three areas.

There were some notable personalities who attended the War Game Simulation. Among them there were former Supreme Allied Commander Europe (2013-2016) gen. Philip Breedlove, commanders of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, (ARRC) gen. Tim Radford and gen. Paul Tennant as well as, generals and commanders from the Nordic countries and representatives of the Polish Armed Forces, military universities, the National Security Bureau and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.

The general public conclusion from the simulation “HEGEMON: Baltic Campaign” was later on presented during the Baltic Sea Security 2017 conference organized by the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. Full classified version of the report was provided to the Minister of National Defence Antoni Macierewicz and Deputy Minister Tomasz Szatkowski, who oversees the Strategic Defense Review.

In principle, during the War Game simulation all combat systems used in armament proved to be highly effective in the subsequent conventional conflict. In all locations but east of Warsaw, the impact helicopters proved to be the main means of surviving the NATO land units, with the overwhelming firepower of their opponents, demonstrating their usefulness in the specific theater of warfare between Warsaw and St. Petersburg.

The lack of response to Russian missile-maneuvering missile and ballistic missile attacks against the NATO air bases and their logistic centers was also a significant issue.

However, defense of the north-eastern region of Poland and the Baltic States requires a further detailed analysis that takes into account the broad spectrum of possible Russian attacks, particularly given the proximity of the potential theater of warfare to the territory of Russia and Belarus.