Don’t worry, the Polish are not bombing Daesh.
Few months ago the Polish Air Force deployed some F-16 Block 52+ fighters with the 10th Fighter Squadron from the 32 Air Base in Łask to Kuwait, in order to take part in the air war against Islamic State performing reconnaissance operations with the use of the DB110 recon pod.
Noteworthy, the most recent photos from Kuwait published by the Polish General Command of the Armed Forces, depicting jets belonging to the 6th Fighter Squadron based in Krzesiny, near Poznan, fueled speculations that the F-16s might have changed their role in the air war against Daesh into a more offensive one.
In fact, the recce role in the Polish F-16 operational structure is assigned to the 10th FS from Łask, while Krzesiny’s jets are responsible for training and air-to-ground roles.
However, the Polish Ministry of Defense denied the speculations emerging in the mainstream media stating that the mission character has not changed and the Polish F-16s will continue to be limited to reconnaissance missions in Syria and Iraq, carrying drop-tanks and DB110 recon pods only.
Although the denial did not provide any detail about the reasons for swapping the units, such rotations are far from being unusual: air arms regularly rotate airframes deployed abroad to meet maintenance deadlines. Pilots (and supporting personnel) are also rotated so as to give more aircrews the opportunity to gain some experience in combat environment.
For this reason, some air forces deploy to theater their Expeditionary Task Forces that gather aircraft and personnel from several different units. That said, considering the official release, the speculations seem to be unconfirmed. At least until some photos showing the Polish Vipers with bombs under the wings emerge – but that would be another story.
Top image Credit: Polish General Command of the Armed Forces/Twitter. Image below: Filip Modrzejewski / Foto Poork
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