The Polish Air Force is experiencing a shortage of pilots to operate its F-16 fighter jets.
Globalinfo.az reports that the newspaper “Rzeczpospolita” wrote about this.
It was reported that at least 70 trained pilots are required for the normal operation of the 47 F-16 fighters in Poland’s arsenal.
However, only 40 pilots currently fly Poland’s F-16 jets.
The publication cited difficulties in training military personnel and the desire of many pilots to fly the more modern, fifth-generation, US-made F-35 fighters among the reasons for the pilot shortage.
It should be noted that in 2003 Poland signed a contract with the United States to purchase 48 F-16 fighters for 3.6 billion dollars. The entire batch of aircraft was delivered to Poland between 2006 and 2008. On August 28, 2025, a Polish F-16 fighter crashed near the city of Radom during a training flight.
It was previously reported that the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) was considering options for repairing and modernizing F-16 and MiG-29 fighters in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
It should be recalled that Poland had earlier declared itself ready for war with Russia.
Aliyar Khalil
Globalinfo.az
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