Poland - Air Force
Polish Air Force's primary task is the national airspace defense. The Polish Air Force is the functional element of the national defense system, integrated with NATO and European joint civilian-military air defense systems. The selected Air Force units are capable to participate in allied operations out of the polish territory. Overall Command and Control of the Polish Air Force is within competences of the Air Force Command, located in Warsaw. Its organizational structure consists of two major divisions: Air Force Chief of Staff Division, responsible for planning, reconnaissance and electronic warfare issues, command & control, communications, and personnel. Air Force Training Division, responsible for organization and methodical preparedness of the educational process in combat, tactical and flight training of the Air Force personnel. Moreover, the Training Division conducts the entire air defense activities, participates in structural organization of the national and allied exercises. The Training Division consists of Air Force, Ground Based Air Defense Forces and Radar Forces training elements.
Polish Air Force consist of three major components:
- Air Force, responsible for flying units activities. They have a decisive impact on effectiveness of the Poland?s territory defense. The Air Force also provides a training capabilities for all pilots and flight support personnel of entire polish military aviation (Land Forces and Navy aviation). The Air Force combines fighter squadrons, fighter-bomber squadrons and reconnaissance squadrons equipped with F-16, Mig-29 and Su-22 combat aircraft. Air Force's primary tasks are: defense of polish airspace, elimination of air, ground and naval targets and conduct of air reconnaissance. In 2009 the Air Forces were reorganized into four Air Wings: the 1st and 2nd Tactical Air Wing, the 3rd Airlift Wing and the 4th Flight Training Wing.
- Ground Based Air Defense Forces (GBAD Forces), assigned to prevent hostile air assault as well as enitre Polish Armed Forces air defense and defense of the selected stationary objects and zones. GBAD Forces are structurally organized in two air defense brigades and two independnt air defense regiments, equipped with a SA-3 (Newa), SA-4 (Krug), SA-5 (Wega) and anti-aircraft artillery systems. To ensure its units protection, GBAD Forces utilizes MANPADS-class systems (SA-7 Strzala-2 and polish-developed Grom SHORAD system).
- Radar Forces (Air Surveillance And Control Systems), assigned to provide constant radar reconnaissance and radar support of the Air Force. As a part of NATO radar reconnaissance network, the Radar Forces provides an air situation picture (RAP - Recognized Air Picture) over the polish and its neighborhoods territory. The selected Radar Forces units provide radar reconnaissance by constant airspace surveillance to support Air Forces and GBAD Forces combat activities.
In 1992 a high military priority was establishing an air defense system based on existing assets of the air and air defense forces. Within that context, early warning and force integration were the most immediate problems. Resistance to enemy fire and maneuverability were rated as poor by Polish military experts. Restructuring plans called for one air defense corps in each of the four military districts, each corps having air intercept and rocket forces. Combined manpower was projected at 50,000.
In 1992 some 83,000 personnel, including 47,000 conscripts, served in the Polish air and air defense forces [ Dowodztwo Wojsk Lotniczych Obrony Powietrznej - Polish Air Defense Force Headquarters)]. Active combat aircraft numbered 423, with an additional eighty-six in storage awaiting sale, and thirty-one attack helicopters. The forces were divided into two air divisions. The four regiments of groundattack fighters totaled twenty Su-20 and 104 Su-22 fighters supplied by the Soviet Union in the 1970s. For reconnaissance, the ground-attack regiments had twenty-four MiG-17 and eight Su20 airplanes. Air combat forces were divided into eight regiments equipped with 221 MiG-21/U fighters, whose equivalents were long ago withdrawn from service in the West, thirty-seven more advanced variable wing-geometry MiG-23MF fighters, and nine MiG29 fighters, top-of-the-line Soviet aircraft whose delivery was curtailed in late 1990. Air combat forces utilized twenty-four MiG-21RU reconnaissance aircraft.
In 1992 the air force had two transport regiments equipped with ten AN-2 single-engine transports, one AN-12 four-turboprop general transport, eleven AN-26 two-turboprop short-haul transports, ten Yak-40 short-haul, three-turbofan jet transports, one Tu-154 long-range three-turbofan jet transport, three Il-14 piston-engine light transports, four Mi-8 helicopters, and one Bell 412 helicopter.
Polish helicopter attack forces were organized in three regiments in 1992. Altogether the regiments had thirty Mi-24, 130 Mi-2, and twenty-one Mi-8 assault helicopters. Of that component, the Mi-2 and Mi-8 were designed in the 1960s and the Mi-24 in the early 1970s. Eighteen Su-22 fighters were used for training. The Polish armed forces stored a large number of redundant or outmoded fighter airplanes and began selling them to Western collectors in the early 1990s. In storage in 1992 were forty MiG21s and variants of that model, twenty-four MiG-17s, and twentytwo MiG-15 U7s.
Poznan-Krzesiny Airport 31st Tactical Air Base named after Capt. Franciszek Jach Poznan-Krzesiny Airport was built in the south-eastern part of Poznan during World War II, when the German occupiers built a Focke Wulf aircraft factory with a small airport there. The factory and nearby warehouses in the forest near Gadki were bombed by American bombers on Easter 1944. In the early 1950s, the airport was expanded. The contractor was the Poznan engineering company Hydrobudowa-7. The runway was built using road equipment taken from the unfinished motorway near Wroclaw. The modernization of Poznan-Krzesiny Airport began in June 2001, when road machines were introduced to the airport in Krzesiny, with a modern 10m wide concrete surface paver. A new 2.5km long runway, taxiway and aircraft parking areas were constructed. The size of the undertaking is evidenced by the significant amounts of road surfaces laid: 600 thousand. m2 of leveling-slip layer, 350 thousand m2 of B-40 concrete surfaces and 115 thousand m2 of bituminous surfaces. Agrotechnical works were performed on an area of ??500 thousand m2 of grass surfaces. On July 12, 2002, the airport was officially opened after the renovation of the airport roads and the pilot's house. In the following years, road works continued with the construction of new concrete, bituminous and grass surfaces. A new 115 m long, 45 m wide and 47,000 m3 service hangar was built for servicing the F-16 aircraft. The main hangar halls were made of steel. There will be six aircraft stands in the two-bay main hall measuring 61 x 25 m. Two single-bay halls (45 x 16.4 and 25.2 x 16.4 m) with single stands and accompanying rooms were also built. The halls are equipped with electric gates (main hall and engine hall) and manual gates in the fuel hall. A fire protection facility was built between the hangars, consisting of two steel water tanks with a capacity of 522 m3 each, a foam tank with a capacity of 7 m3, a diesel pump with a capacity of 10 m3 / minute and the necessary pipelines. In the event of a fire in any of the hangars, it will be immediately flooded with foam. Next to the hangar, a stand for aircraft fuel service was built. The main hall, used for refueling steel birds, measures 28 x 29 m and is 11 m high. It is additionally equipped, like the hangars, with a fire protection system and powerful ventilation systems. American fuel tanks with a capacity of 50 thousand liters each will also be installed. The airport control, or tower, is responsible for the operations of vehicles and aircraft within the maneuvering area. The tower also mediates the transfer of information between the aircraft at the airport and other control bodies - approach control and area control. The characteristic building of the Military Airport has a usable area of ??2.5 thousand m2 and a volume of 11.2 thousand m3. The aircraft guidance center, popularly known as the aquarium , located on the seventh floor of the port tower, decides on air traffic in the airport area, provides communication with aircraft, guiding them to the landing path. The room provides excellent visibility of the entire airport and approaches, houses soldiers operating the devices, necessary means of radio and wire communication, control and management devices for approach lights and many other things. In the new aircraft dispersal zone, several third-generation aircraft shelters with a barrel-shaped steel and concrete structure have been built so far. The thrust deflection chamber located at the back of the shelter-hangar allows the aircraft to be started directly from the aircraft shelter. The zone is complemented by: a technical building, a squadron building, a pilot's house, shelters for staff and hiding places for vehicles. In several buildings with a total area of 6 thousand m2 and a cubic capacity of 32 thousand m3 a new base of the Airport Service Company was created. It houses garages for modern equipment used to maintain the airport in constant operational readiness, warehouses for consumables and a modern technical and repair workshop with a car wash equipped with washing and drying equipment. The KOL is equipped with airport vacuum cleaners on car chassis and other cleaners (summer and winter). The task of the KOL is to ensure the appropriate cleanliness of the runway, taxiways and access roads, related to the operating standards of the F-16 aircraft. Another modern facility is the laboratory building. It has an area of 3.2 thousand m2 and a volume of 18 thousand m3. The facility will conduct tests not only for the F-16 aircraft, but also for the Polish Armed Forces. The building houses a specialist military metrology center and a fuel and aviation technology laboratory. The airport has installed a system of aircraft brake lines, a modern meteorological measurement system, navigation lighting and external fencing. It should be noted that the new airport facilities are powered by new power stations, and heat is provided by their own oil boilers. Most of the rooms are air-conditioned. Among the construction companies implementing facilities at the Poznan - Krzesiny airport, the following should be mentioned: SKANSKA - with road and general construction departments in Poznan, WARBUD, HYDROBUDOWA - 9 Poznan, EBUD Bydgoszcz, WINNICKI Sochaczew, GAZOMONTAZ Wolomin, BUDOPOL Bydgoszcz, ALSTAL Bydgoszcz, Lubelskie PRT, Elektromontaz Poznan and Gdansk, ZEUS Pruszcz Gdanski, ELMONT Kostrzyn Wielkopolski, ELEKTROTIM Wroclaw, SIEMENS Warszawa, PBG Wysogotowo, and VITAL LINK Inc. from the USA. Many construction works and works related to improving the aesthetics of the airport were performed by the military. The 16th Airport Damage Removal Battalion from Jarocin has made a particularly large contribution. Construction works are also performed by Wojskowe Zaklady Remontowo Budowlane from Krotoszyn and Gniezno. Incoming American Soldiers arrive at Powidz, which is the first stop for the majority of the units mobilizing into Poland. The 652nd Regional Support Group, 364th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), 79th Theater Sustainment Command, is responsible for the base operations at 11 different base camps throughout Poland. This means the 652nd is tasked with giving the Soldiers on each camp what they need to live. Located in the central city of Powidz, the base – which hosts US Apache strike helicopters – will strengthen US Air Force operational capabilities to support Polish and NATO forces. Powidz is turning into a military complex, preparing to support Polish and NATO forces on the eastern flank of NATO. The expansion is part of the 2020 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between Washington and Warsaw, which covers 114 infrastructure projects at 11 locations. Powidz Air Base is a unique and vital part of the Army’s mission in Poland in support of Atlantic Resolve. Atlantic Resolve is an operation in which service members from the Department of Defense serve on rotational mobilizations to Europe to build readiness, increase interoperability and enhance the bond between ally and partner militaries through multinational training events such as Defender 2020. Defender 2020, was the largest multinational training operation in Europe in more than 25 years. Powidz is key to the Army’s mission in Poland because it serves as a transportation, maintenance and medical and aviation hub for Soldiers in Poland, Capt. Amanda Carling, the commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 652nd RSG, and the mayor of Powidz Air Base, said. The 757th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, a National Guard unit out of Reno, Nevada, mobilized to Powidz, provides transportation, supply and maintenance support to the base camps throughout Poland. Meanwhile, the 1209th Area Support Medical Company, a National Guard unit from Mexico, provides medical support. “Powidz is a logistical hub – we are combined with the airfield, so we maintain two sites and monitor contracts on both, and also one of the few base camps offering more advanced medical services,” Carling said. It is also home to the command team for both the 652nd Regional Support Group and Area Support Group Poland, commanded by Col. Erica Herzog and Command Sgt. Maj. Duane Hedrick. The 652nd RSG is the first Army Reserve unit to head base operations for all of Poland on base camps owned by the Polish but managed by the 652nd. https://www.scramble.nl/planning/orbats/poland/polish-air-force">Air Force air bases https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kategoria:Bazy_lotnicze_Si%C5%82_Powietrznych">Air Force air bases https://www.mil-airfields.de/pl/list.htm">Air Force air bases http://www.easternorbat.com/html/poland_tactical_air_force_83_e.html">Air Force air bases
Poland Air Force Bases / Baza Lotnicza
1st Air Transport Base 1st Air Base 2nd Air Base 3rd Air Base 6th Air Base 8th Air Transport Base 8th Air Base 11th Air Base 12 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Base 12th Air Base 21st Tactical Air Base 21st Air Base 22nd Tactical Air Base 22nd Air Base 23rd Tactical Air Base 23rd Air Base 24th Air Base 31st Tactical Air Base 31st Air Base 32nd Tactical Air Base 32nd Air Base 33rd Air Transport Base 33rd Air Base 41st Aviation Training Base 42nd Aviation Training Base https://www.jednostki-wojskowe.pl/
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