This year, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Poland in Eastern Europe has significantly increased its military budget and intensively purchased air equipment for some time in the past.
Behind the intensive procurement of air equipment
On October 20, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced on social media that he would lease an MQ-9A Reaper drone from General Atomics for a contract value of $70.6 million.
In September, Poland signed an agreement with South Korea to purchase 48 FA-50 aircraft from South Korea. Poland's defense minister said the FA-50s would replace the soon-to-be-retired MiG-29 and Su-22 fighters.
Almost simultaneously, Poland's defense minister said he would acquire 96 AH-64E Apache helicopters to replace the soon-to-be-retired Mi-24/35 fleet. If the contract is finalized, Poland will become Boeing's largest international customer for gunships.
In addition, Poland purchased 32 Leonardo Helicopters AW149 helicopters.
We will find that with the development of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, some former Eastern European countries that have traditionally been considered less influential and less valued by the public have played a strong role in intervening and influencing the changes in the political and military situation. Poland is a case in point.
The main reason is that in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Ukraine is far from Russia in terms of the scale of the army of heavy equipment, as well as the completeness and capacity scale of the military industry. Therefore, the role played by Eastern European countries, especially those that have joined the NATO camp, has become very obvious.
On the one hand, these countries have inherited a large number of Soviet-made weapons, many of which are high-value equipment such as third-generation fighters, and even many have undergone varying degrees of modernization, improvement and upgrading.
On the other hand, based on the "convenience" of being in the NATO camp, it is equipped with a lot of American or European equipment.
Therefore, in addition to its own geopolitical considerations, intervention in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has become an excellent opportunity for it to accelerate the replacement of weapons and equipment and realize the transformation of the military system.
MiG-29 of the Polish Air Force.
It is precisely with the support of these countries that the Ukrainian army can effectively replenish the loss of heavy technical equipment on the battlefield and obtain new combat capabilities that can be immediately put into practical use on the battlefield.
On September 25, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that Russian aviation fighters shot down two MiG-29 aircraft of the Ukrainian army carrying AGM-88 American-made anti-radiation missiles, TASS reported.
And in early September, the Ukrainian army also said that it had modified the AGM-27 for the Su-88.
There is an air force, but there is no aviation industry
The history of the Polish Air Force is relatively old.
In 1917, before the start of the Russian Revolution, Poland did not achieve independence and remained under the control of Germany and Austria-Hungary, and many Polish pilots served in the armies of Tsarist Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the beginning of the Russian Revolution, these pilots took advantage of the chaotic international situation to form their own air forces in today's Belarus, southern Ukraine, and along the Kuban River.
Thus, the personnel and equipment of the early Polish Air Force came mainly from the military systems of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
In 1918, shortly after Poland's independence, the Soviet-Polish War broke out. During this period, the equipment system of the Polish Air Force was mainly based on products from Germany and other Western countries.
Among the well-known models are the French Breguet 14 bomber, the German LVG C.V reconnaissance aircraft, the British Bristol F.2B reconnaissance aircraft and the Italian Ansaldo Balilea fighter.
After the end of the Soviet-Polish War, aircraft during the First World War were largely eliminated by Poland, and new aircraft from France became the workhorse of the Polish Air Force.
From 1918 to 1924, the Polish Air Force was well equipped during this period. At that time, the Polish Air Force and naval aviation consisted of 2160 aircraft (some of which were inoperable), including 1384 reconnaissance aircraft and 410 warplanes.
PWS-10 fighter with an all-metal upper monoplane layout.
From 1924 to 1930, the main fighter of the Polish Air Force was the SPAD 61, and its main bombers were the French-produced Portertz 15 and Portertz 25. In addition, Poland designed and mass-produced the fighter PWS-10 on its own, which was delivered to the country's Air Force for service.
In 1939, Poland was partitioned again. In the process, part of Poland's air power was destroyed or captured by the Soviet Union and Germany, while the rest was withdrawn to and used by Romania, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, or Sweden.
During the partition of Poland, Polish Air Force personnel fled in large numbers, after which the reorganization was completed in France.
In 1940, after France fell to Nazi Germany, the Polish Air Force, which had been "in exile" in France, fled to Britain again and completed its reconstruction in Britain as part of the Royal Air Force. The Polish Air Force of this period consisted of four squadrons, of which 300, 301 squadrons flew bombers; 302, 303 squadrons fly fighters.
These Polish Air Force pilots showed themselves well in the Anglo-German air battle. Among them, 303 Squadron is considered to be the most effective squadron in the entire RAF system. Polish pilots were also widely regarded as highly skilled, fearless, and even almost reckless.
To this day, the combat level of Polish fighter pilots is still highly evaluated in the NATO camp.
In Poland itself, occupied and controlled by the Soviet Union, based on part of the former Polish Air Force, the Soviet Union established the Polish People's Air Force, initially consisting of three regiments and later expanded. After the end of World War II, the Polish People's Republic Air Force was formed on the basis of the Polish People's Air Force.
Equipment system turns: from east to west
During the Cold War, although Poland maintained a peaceful situation for many years, under the influence of geopolitics and the rapid development of modern fighter technology, Poland also quickly lost its ability to develop and manufacture modern complex military aircraft, and its air equipment was completely based on Soviet-made aircraft.
After the end of the Cold War, the Polish Air Force phased out older aircraft, including the MiG-21. Before 2006, its main model was the MiG-29. However, a considerable number of aircraft come from the legacy of the former East German army inherited by Germany.
In 1999, Poland joined NATO, and its military system began to shift to NATO standards. In 2002, Poland decided to purchase the F-16 as a new Air Force workhorse model, and received the first F-16s delivered in 2006.
The future workhorse of the Polish Air Force is the F-35 fighter.
In 2020, Poland signed an agreement for the purchase of 32 F-35 fighters. According to the agreement, deliveries of the aircraft will begin in 2026.
In March 2022, the Polish government offered to hand over its entire MiG-29 fleet to the U.S. government "free of charge" through Ramstein Air Base in Germany. In this "donation" statement, the Polish government called on all "(NATO) allies" using MiG-29 aircraft to donate their aircraft to Ukraine. But at the same time, Poland also demanded that in exchange for the "donation" of the MiG-29, the United States should provide Poland with second-hand aircraft with corresponding combat capabilities, such as the F-16.
Apparently, in the construction of military power, Poland has already bet on NATO, on American-made aircraft. The intervention and impact of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict may only be a "letter of submission" to enrich future air power.