Polish Air Force Rehearses the Armed Forces’ Day Parade at Powidz AB.

Last week we had a chance to observe the preparatory activities preceding the Polish Armed Forces’ day parade that is scheduled to happen on Aug. 15, in Katowice. The rehearsals took place at the Powidz AB that served as a location where the aviation portion of the presentation was rehearsed over the tower. Powidz also acts as a hub for the airlift assets taking part in the parade.

The parade is one of the main elements of the Polish Armed Forces’ Day. The event takes place annually on Aug. 15. This year the main parade is not going to take place in Warsaw, as usual, but in Katowice because Poland is also celebrating the centenary of the Silesian Uprising.

Polish Air Force CN295 taxi at Powidz AB.

Polish Armed Forces Day is also known as the Feast of the Polish Armed Forces (Polish: Świeto Wojska Polskiego). It is a national holiday commemorating the victory in the Polish-Soviet War of 1920.

A formation of airlifters led by a C-130.

The Parade, as Polska Zbrojna reports, will also involve American, British, Croatian and Romanian troops hailing from the NATO Battalion Battle Group stationed in Bemowo Piskie as well as land assets (such as Rosomak APCs, Krab SPHs, or Rak self-propelled Mortars), and 60 fixed- and rotary-winged aircraft.

Powidz held a rehearsal of the flypast on Friday. On the ground we could observe the Polish airlifters – CASA C295Ms, M-28 Bryzas and C-130 Hercules, that took off to do a flypast together with numerous helicopters but overall, the flypast will feature TS-11 Iskra, Mi-2, W-3W, Mi-8, W-3, Mi-14, W-3WARM, Mi-17, Mi-24, Diamond DA-42, Diamond DA-40, PZL-130 Orlik, PZL M28 Bryza, C-130E Hercules, CASA C295M, Gulfstream G550, Boeing B737-800, F-16, M-346 Master, Su-22, and, most probably, two USAFE F-15s (noteworthy F-15E Strike Eagles accompanied the F-35s visiting Powidz AB last month).