Inna Andalitskaya17:49, 04/01/23
These aircraft should compensate for the Polish MiG-29 fighters transferred to Ukraine.
The US Department of Defense agreed to sell 24 F-22 Raptor aircraft to Poland for a symbolic dollar , which were removed from service ahead of schedule.
According to the Polish portal Defence24 , F-22s, in particular, should compensate Poland, which is the backbone of NATO’s eastern flank, for the Polish MiG-29 fighters transferred to Ukraine.
“By the end of 2025, Poland may become the second country in the world after the United States that will use two types of 5th generation aircraft. In addition to the F-35 aircraft already purchased for the Polish Air Force, the Americans offered to provide Poland with 24 F-22A Block 20 Raptor aircraft from batch of 32 fighters,” the publication reports.
It is noted that Poland should receive the planes for a symbolic dollar, but the whole operation will not be without costs. First of all, Poland will have to pay to test the Raptor because the ones planned to be retired by the US Air Force were not in combat service, but were used mainly for training. Poland must also raise funds for armaments, training of pilots and technical personnel, and preparation of ground infrastructure.
The Americans have already calculated that it will take about three years (including pilot training), and all F-22 aircraft will be delivered to Poland in 2024-2025.
American aircraft for Poland
The Raptor is considered the first fifth-generation American military aircraft. It is capable of performing both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.
On June 28, 2022, it was reported that the United States would deploy F-22 fighter jets to Poland in order to strengthen the deterrence of the Russian Federation. Six Raptors from the 90th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron based in Alaska have arrived at Lakenheath Air Force Base in Britain
On March 25, 2023, the speaker of the command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yuriy Ignat, said that the Defense Forces of Ukraine would be able to liberate the occupied territories very quickly if they received American F-15 and F-16 fighters, which NATO member countries have.
Poland and Slovakia announced their readiness to transfer their MiG-29 aircraft to Ukraine.
(C)UNIAN 2023
i hope this is a 1 april’s fool
why give Poland planes the U.S. has too few of?
why give them a small number of the most complicated machines ever built?
why early retire the best plane the U.S. has?
so many questions
I share your concerns but I will try to explain why the F 22 was never adopted in the numbers originally requested.
The biggest reason is cost,of $350 to $380 million per unit,The F-35 Lightning II had a cost per unit of almost $80 million.
The F-22 is cutting edge in many ways, but it was still designed using 80’s and 90’s computer architecture. It physically wasn’t going to be able to incorporate many of the technological advancements being built into the F-35 from the start, which dimmed its long term prospects
I absolutely agree, but that is why I think this move is very weird.
They have very few airframes and now making the number even smaller.
Also for Poland I think it is a waste of money, because they have a shitload of platforms to maintain, I think already too many for what is still a very modest economy.
F-16, F-35, some of the Sukhoi’s (the Migs will be given away), the Korean mini-F-16.
Also, this number of F-22’s for Poland is too few: you cannot get new spare parts so you will soon have to cannibalize some of these airframes. Then you will end up having like 10 of them, which is too few for a meaningful unit.
I think if they had given F-16’s to increase their modest fleet or more F-35’s, it would be a lot more useful.
I have the feeling it is more politics than sound military planning.
They are spending a lot of money on defense, but aren’t creating a sustainable and balanced military this way.
The Polish air force has only about 140 fighters altogether, including 32 ordered F-35s, so those F-22s represent a good part of their fighter fleet, especially seeing that the around 45 Mig-29s and Su-22s might soon be phased out. Not to forget that one F-22 is perhaps better than 5 of mafia land’s best fighters.
I would agree with your comments,
However, how can you say no to 24 Raptors for $1.00!!
Guys, it is indeed a 1 april’s joke 😀
No other website mentions it, and all links in the article are dead.
It is just a joke, a good one I think