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30 August 2022
by Gareth Jennings
Polish F-16s will defend Slovakian airspace from 1 September. (Polish MND)
Poland has joined the Czech Republic in announcing it will assign combat aircraft to the defence of Slovakian airspace.
The Polish Ministry of National Defence (MND) said that from 1 September a pair of Polish Air Force (Inspektorat Sił Powietrznych: ISP) Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons will extend their air defence duties to include Slovakia. The announcement came weeks after the Czech Air Force (Vzdusné Sily Armády Ceské Republiky: VSACR) said its Saab Gripen C fighters would do the same.
Throughout the European region, the provision of air defence by one country to a neighbouring country is a model that is becoming increasingly popular, and one that is set to rise as the regional threat factor increases; ageing (particularly Russian-built) jets are retired; production backlogs of popular replacement types, such as the F-16, build up; and defence budgets are squeezed because of rising inflation and other factors.
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