Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attended the acceptance of the first F-16 multirole aircraft, which will be serviced at the Military Aviation Works (WZL) in Bydgoszcz.

“At the WZL in Bydgoszcz, I learned how strong our cooperation is with the US Army, with the US Air Force. I can praise the aviation plants that they will be one of the few to service and refurbish F-16s”, said the head of the Polish government. Poland will be among the top three NATO countries in terms of defence spending next year. We are planning to allocate up to 4% of GDP for this purpose.

We have a very simple choice. Either we will be a victim of Russia’s domination and fall into Russian slavery again, or we will build up our defence capabilities in a short time, together with our closest allies, such as the US, the UK and other NATO countries”, said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Poland has signed contracts for new tanks, rocket launchers, aircraft and howitzers in recent months. It is ordering modern combat assets from South Korea and the UK. Also, orders are being fulfilled for the latest US equipment for the Polish army: Abrams tanks, HIMARS rocket artillery systems and F-35 aircraft.

Since 2015, the number of soldiers in the Polish Armed Forces has increased from 95,000 to more than 153,000. In addition, Polish soldiers take part in manoeuvres together with the Slovak, Czech, Hungarian, American and British armies.
The Military Aviation Works No. 2, which is part of the Polish Armaments Group, concluded in July 2022 a multi-year contract with the US company AAR Government Services INC for technical support for F-16 aircraft belonging to the US Air Force stationed in Europe. As part of the cooperation with the American ally, Bydgoszcz-based WZL No. 2 will refurbish parts of the multi-role fighters.

Adrian Andrzejewski