U.S. and Polish officials gathered at Powidz Air Base in west-central Poland on 27 May 2026 to mark the completion of what is described as the U.S. Air Force’s second-largest War Reserve Materiel site in Europe.
The new facility houses a Deployable Air Base System, or DABS, storage complex intended to hold the facilities, equipment and vehicles needed to set up and run air bases across Poland and the surrounding region. According to the organisations involved, the aim is to let the U.S. Air Force and NATO allies establish operations from austere or bare-base sites far more quickly than would otherwise be possible, with the necessary kit already staged on the ground rather than shipped in when a crisis develops.
The project was delivered through the Poland Provided Infrastructure programme, an arrangement led and funded by the Polish government in close coordination with U.S. European Command. Under the programme, Poland takes the lead in designing and constructing military infrastructure built to meet U.S. and allied requirements, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acting as the U.S. execution agent on behalf of U.S. European Command. The Corps’ Europe District supports early design development, design reviews and on-site construction oversight on PPI projects, the DABS complex among them.
Polish Chief of the Armed Forces Support Inspectorate Maj. Gen. Dariusz Mendrala framed the work as part of a wider transformation of his country’s armed forces. “The Poland Provided Infrastructure program is probably… the largest program when it comes to the delivery of military infrastructure in the history of the Polish Armed Forces,” he said, as quoted in the release. He added that the effort consumes close to five percent of Poland’s gross domestic product, before stating: “But peace, the prosperity of our nation and the security of our citizens – they do not have a price that we will not pay.”
The Powidz complex is the first U.S. Air Force project completed under the PPI programme. According to the U.S. Air Force, the site will hold four complete kits, capable of supporting more than 2,200 personnel and multiple aircraft fleets if required. It is currently run jointly by U.S. and Polish personnel and is expected to transition to full Polish operation in the future.
U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Chad Ellsworth, Director of Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection at U.S. Air Forces Europe Air Forces Africa, set out the reasoning behind the prepositioning concept. “When an aircraft and its warfighters arrive at a bare base runway anywhere in the region,” he said, “everything they need including fuel systems, vehicles, shelters, and equipment is already staged – ready to deploy forward in hours, not weeks or months.” He characterised the project in broader terms as well, describing it as “a physical manifestation of the U.S.-Polish strategic partnership” and as a platform serving as “a cornerstone of NATO’s Eastern Flank security.”
Powidz has become a focal point for U.S. and NATO investment in Poland over recent years. The base already hosts an Army Prepositioned Stock site holding pre-positioned ground equipment, part of a wider effort to maintain ready stocks of materiel closer to NATO’s eastern frontier following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The DABS complex extends that prepositioning logic to air operations, concentrating the components of an expeditionary air base at a single location.
Tom Waters, Chief of the Special Programs Integration Office at the Corps’ Europe District, addressed the delivery effort after the ceremony. “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is committed to delivering the Poland Provided Infrastructure program in close partnership with our Polish Allies,” he said, adding that completing projects such as the DABS complex supports operational readiness and deterrence along the alliance’s eastern flank.
So back to home, where is the UK equivalent? Or are we all talk, all show, and no real action again? I ask as I was touching on dispersal of the RAF with Ron on another thread. The RAF had an exercise where they moved to an “austere” location ( even though it was St Mawgan, a minor RAF Station ) to practice “Bare Base” operations. Do we preposition equipment at RAF Stations that no longer have their own aircraft, to enable dispersal The of Typhoon? The obvious examples are Leuchars and Leeming, both with HAS. But you could add several others.
And repositioned ADR equipment, which was common in the Cold War, what of that? Fire engines, prepositiined munitions, vehicles, all that’s needed.
And I’ve not even come on to the people, the multitude of trades from ground crew to munitions to force protection. Where are they if the RAF EAWs ( Expeditionary Air Wings ) need to disperse to multiple locations.
The airfields are not in short supply, the people are, and I wondered if the RAF should have it’s own version of these DABS, tailored differently to our own requirements?