de facto: 1917; 107 years ago (1917)[1] de jure: 1918; 106 years ago (1918)[2]
Country
Poland
Type
Air force
Role
Aerial warfare
Size
16,500 personnel[3]
261+ aircraft[4]
Part of
Polish Armed Forces
March
Marsz Lotników (March of Aviators)[5]
Engagements
Polish–Ukrainian War Polish–Soviet War World War II
Invasion of Poland
Western Front
Eastern Front
War in Iraq War in Afghanistan Operation Inherent Resolve
Website
www.sp.mil.pl
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief
Andrzej Duda
Minister of National Defence
Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz
Chief of the General Staff
General Wiesław Kukuła
General Commander
Generał broni Marek Sokołowski
Inspector of the Air Force
Generał brygady Ireneusz Nowak [pl]
Insignia
Roundel
(Air Force checkerboard)
Ceremonial flag[6]
Garrison flag[6]
Aircraft flown
Attack
Su-22
Fighter
F-16, MiG-29
Helicopter
Mi-8, Mi-17, Mi-2, PZL W-3, PZL SW-4, S-70i
Reconnaissance
PZL M-28
Trainer
PZL-130, M-346
Transport
C-130, C-295, M-28, 737
Military unit
The Polish Air Force (Polish: Siły Powietrzne, lit. 'Air Forces') is the aerial warfare branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej (lit.'Aerial and Air Defense Forces'). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 16,425 military personnel and about 475 aircraft, distributed among ten bases throughout Poland.
The Polish Air Force can trace its origins to the second half of 1917 and was officially established in the months following the end of World War I in 1918. During the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939, 70% of its aircraft were destroyed. Most pilots, after the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September, escaped via Romania and Hungary to continue fighting throughout World War II in allied air forces, first in France, then in Britain, and later also the Soviet Union.
^Cite error: The named reference shinden was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference bartel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej - Portal Gov.pl" (PDF). Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej. Archived from the original on May 14, 2014.
^"World Air Forces 2022". Flightglobal Insight. 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
^"Marsz Lotników – (Polish Air Forces March)". YouTube. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
^ ab"Ustawa z dnia 19 lutego 1993 r. o znakach Sił Zbrojnych Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej" [Act of 19 February 1993 on the symbols of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland] (PDF). isap.sejm.gov.pl (in Polish). Internet System of Legal Acts. pp. 24–28. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
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The PolishAirForce, the aerial warfare branch of the Polish Armed Forces, traces its origins to the second half of 1917 and was officially established...
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The AirForce checkerboard (Polish: szachownica lotnicza) is a national marking for the aircraft of the PolishAirForce, equivalent to roundels used in...
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its second air base in Estonia's Ämari near Tallinn, beginning with a Danish deployment. In May 2014, PolishAirForce units at Malbork Air Base were reinforced...
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completely contract-based manpower supply system. On 10 April 2010, a PolishAirForce Tu-154M crashed near Smolensk, Russia while in transit to a ceremony...
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The following is the order of battle of the PolishAirForce prior to the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War of 1939. During the mobilization waves of...
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