First F-16s arrive in Poland to bolster training mission

Six F-16 fighters from the 555th Fighter Squadron from Aviano Base, Italy, have arrived in Poland to augment the U.S. military’s presence there amid regional tensions following Russia’s Feb. 28 incursion into Ukraine.
The fighters landed on Thursday afternoon and another six F-16s are expected to arrive at Lask Air Base, Poland, by the end of the week.
On March 6, the U.S. sent a KC-135 and six F-15 fighters to Lithuania to help safeguard Baltic airspace, reinforcing the four F-15s that have been there since Jan. 1.
And NATO is sending Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft to conduct reconnaissance flights over Poland and Romania to “monitor the crisis in Ukraine”.
In April three C-130s and about 100 airmen from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, are expected to arrive at Poland’s Powidz Air Base on a regularly scheduled training rotation.
The U.S. and its allies have denounced Russia’s moves to annex the Crimea region of Ukraine.
airforcetimes