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After the
decision of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in 1997 to extent towards the East, To fulfil
all the needs of a
NATO membership, the Polish Air Force decided to change its structure.
Three
Aviation Corps and two Tactical Aviation Brigades Brygada Lotnictwa
Taktycznego, BLTs were built up. The
flying units did not refer anymore to a regiment structure but were
assigned to
the different Air Bases and were now named Squadrons. On 1st of July
2004 the Air Force was named Siły Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. A modernisation program was installed for the MiG-29s and a part of the Su-22s to assure a compatibility and interoperability during common NATO exercises or deployments with other NATO partners. This program should have been finalized approximately in 2010 with the Su-22s. The final
retirement of the aging
MiG-21 fleet end of 2003 revealed the urgent requirement of a new
modern
fighter as an addition for the MiG-29s and also Su-22s. Winner of the
selective
procedure was the F-16C/D block 52+ equipped with the most modern Pratt
& Whitney’s F100-PW-229 engine, glass cockpit, active
digital control, multi-role radar, GPS, onboard electronic warfare
equipment,
passive missile warning, terrain-referenced navigation, external and
conformal
fuel tanks as well as a Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS). 48
machines were
supplied at a total cost of US$ 3.5 billion between November 2006 and
2008,
thirty six F-16C and twelve F-16D. The 3rd tactical air squadron 3. ELT
at Poznan-Krzesiny was the first
Polish unit to receive the brand new F-16 Fighting Falcons. On 9
November 2006
the first four Polish Air Force F-16s were handed over during a
ceremony at
Poznan Krzesiny Air Base. In Polish service the F-16 receives the name
"Jastrzab" which translates as "Hawk". The second unit to
receive the F-16 was the 6th tactical air squadron that ceased flying
the
Su-22M4/UM3K Fitter aircraft at Powidz airbase during 2006 and moved
also to
Krzesiny in early 2007. As a third unit the 10th tactical air squadron
(10
Eskadra Lotnictwa Taktycznego) at Lask got the F-16. ... Read the full story at |
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| 43 Images | Impressum | |
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