POLAND'S DIVERSE MILITARY AIR REQUIREMENTS

摘要

When the former Warsaw Pact countryjoined NATO in 1999, Poland's armed forces were mainly equipped with obsolete Soviet-era equipment. This particularly applied to the Polish Air Force but in the next decade efforts were made to equip it with state-of-the-art Western military aircraft. This began with the introduction into service of the Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter in 2006 to replace its fleet of MiG-21S. The culmination of this strategy was the signing of a $4.6 billion contract to purchase 32 Lockheed Martin Block 4F-35A Lightning Ⅱ multi-role combat aircraft in 2019. The Polish Air Force has replaced its Antonov An-26s with 16 Airbus C-295M medium-range transport aircraft which are currently being upgraded with improved engines and modern avionics and communication systems to C295W standard. Its tactical transport fleet is comprised of five ex-USAF Lockheed Martin C-130E Hercules which will be joined by five C-130H aircraft from the same source from 2022. Polish Air Force pilot training is carried out on 28 indigenous PZL-130 Orlik TC-Ⅰ turboprop primary trainers that are being upgraded by Airbus subsidiary PZL Warsza-wa-Okecie with new engines and improved avionics. Lead-in fighter training will be carried out on the Leonardo M-346 Master, 16 of which are replacing the indigenous TS-11 Iskra. Helicopter training is carried out on the PZL-Swidnik SW-4 light helicopter which entered service in 2010.