A squadron of U.S. Air Force F-16s from Aviano deploying to Poland in response to Ukrainian crisis.
Twelve F-16s and 300 military will deploy next week to Lask air base in central Poland, for a combined exercise with the Polish Air Force.
According to the Polish Minister of Defense Tomasz Siemoniak, the exercise was initially scheduled on a much smaller scale, but it was enhanced following the crisis on Poland’s eastern border.
U.S. F-16 deploy quite regularly to Poland. In May 2013, six F-16s and 150 men from the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 176th Tactical Fighter Squadron from Truax Air Force Base deployed to Lask to train integration and interoperability with the Polish F-16s, Su-22s from 21 AFB in Świdwin and MiG-29s from 23 AFB in Minsk Mazowiecki.
Meanwhile, six F-15s from RAF Lakenheath reinforced the U.S. detachment at Siauliai in Lithuania, where the U.S. fighter jets provide Baltic area air policing tasks.
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For the moment, these appear to be symbolic deployments: in case of confrontation, Washington will have to commit much more powerful assets.
