Polish Press Agency
March 7, 2014
12 US F-16s in Poland from next week
U.S. F-16s
Poland’s defence minister has said that 12 US F-16 aircraft should begin arriving in Poland on Monday and Tuesday, for “training exercises” following the Russian incursion into Crimea.
“Arrangements are still ongoing but what is certain is that the planes with 300 support staff will be arriving next week,” Minister Tomasz Siemoniak, alongside US ambassador to Poland Stephen Mull, told reporters.
The 12 F-16s will be stationed in the Lask airbase in central Poland but other air strips will be used in the training exercises, which were scheduled to take place this year in Poland, though their size and importance has grown since the crisis deepened in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel announced that the United States is to increase military aid to its NATO allies, including Poland and Baltic states, due to the Russia–Ukraine conflict.
“When we face such a dramatic challenge to our security, we need to reassure allies that our security guarantees are valid,” Ambassador Mull said.
In May last year, six F-16s with a small group of US troops began a permanent presence at the airbase in Lask.
The Pentagon is also sending six additional fighter jets and an air refueling tanker to Lithuania.
Source