According to the stance of the Polish Ministry of Defence the Polish Air Force F-16 Block 52+s could be ready to take part in an eventual operation in Syria. But, according to a statement of the Prime Minister, they won’t.
The ‘Jastrząb’ (Polish name for the F-16) Aviation Component achieved the combat ready status back in September 2011. It was achieved under a strict surveilance of 123 NATO Command inspectors.
The combat readiness means that the Polish Viper pilots are fully capable of taking part in any operations involving the NATO forces.
According to MoD the capability is constantly prolonged.
The readiness is verified in the course of the exercises, such as this year’s Raróg-13 exercise. Even now five of Polish F-16 are taking part in NATO Response Forces exercise in Norway.
Nonetheless detailed information about combat readiness of the Polish F-16s is classified, according to the MoD.
What is more it is still not clear whether the Vipers have AIDEWS (Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suite) pods, that are crucial in a dense SAM environment.
Anyway, in spite of the Polish capabilities and rumors among analysts, the Polish PM has officially stated he does not expect a Polish involvement in Syria: the F-16s will have to wait for a real combat evaluation.
Thanks to Konrad Muzyka for heads-up.
Jacek Siminski for TheAviationist
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