Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35 fighter jets have landed in Poland to take over NATO Air Policing flights in Baltic Sea region.
Eight F-35 jets and a detachment of approximately 150 personnel have been deployed to the Polish 22nd Tactical Air Base in Malbork, located approximately 60 km southeast of Gdansk.
The troops are currently undergoing familiarisation flights in preparation for assuming the NATO Air Policing mission under the control of the Combined Air Operations Centre in Uedem, Germany, in collaboration with the Polish Air Force.
On Monday, a formation of six F-35s conducted their first training mission, taking off from Malbork.
“It is a great experience to deploy our advance fifth generation jets here to Malbork,” said Lieutenant Colonel Guido Schols, Commander of the Netherlands F-35 detachment.
“By sending eight F-35s, the Netherlands underline their commitment to collective security in the region and contribute to showing NATO presence in the air. Four of our jets are earmarked for the Air Policing mission and the other four will be available for training with our Allies. They can also be used immediately if the situation so requires,” he added.
Taken (from a Canberra) from the most informative RAF Luton Twitter site:
I suspect these will deploy with radar reflectors as the point of policing is to let potential adversary know your there.
Fingers crossed!
Wednesday 1 February 2023
“They can fly at more than 1,200mph and are some of the most advanced aircraft in NATO’s fleet. Could the F-16, RAF Typhoon or German Tornado be sent to Ukraine?
Although the US and UK have ruled out sending F-16 jets to Ukraine for now, the Dutch cabinet said it will look into supplying them if the Kyiv government asks for them.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has received “positive signals” from Poland which is ready to pass on F-16 fighters in coordination with NATO, a top Ukrainian official said.”
For those of you who thought this was in fact impossible to achieve. 03 FEBRUARY 2023 Upgrade and retention of Tranche 1 Eurofighters ‘technically feasible’, BAE Systems tells UK Parliament “There is no technical reason why the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) could not upgrade and retain its fleet of Tranche 1 Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft, BAE Systems told the country’s parliamentary Defence Select Committee in January. In a written response to the committee submitted on 23 January, the lead UK contractor in the Eurofighter consortium said that it would be “technically feasible” to bring the RAF’s remaining 30 Tranche… Read more »
Anything is possible, if the money is available.
ROBERT BLAY Caught red-handed again telling porkies to cover up his lack of knowledge on any given subject to gain some credibility filled with cheap comments to fill in the gaps. How very sad. January 15 2023 19:43 “I think this article explains it in plain enough English for you Nigel from a reputable website. I know you love a link. Or do you still think 6th gen will be available from 2025? that was a cracker of a prediction.” REPLY No doubt the clown in the room didn’t read my post on UKDJ fifteen days ago regarding Tempest and makes… Read more »