US to base F-16s in Poland
US fighters are to be based in Poland.
4-Mar-2011
US F-16s at Spangdahlem in Germany and Aviano in Italy will now be joined by detachments in Poland. USAF image
March 4: Polish news channel thenews reports that the country has agreed terms with the USA for a permanent detachment of American fighters and to “build missile defence systems”.
The US Air Force will rotate detachments at a base in Poland yet to be identified, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton confirmed at a meeting with Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski in Washington yesterday.
A new European missile defence system will replace plans by the previous Bush administration to house an anti-ballistic missile unit in Poland with a radar system in the Czech Republic - a plan abandoned by President Obama in 2009.
Obama then approved a phased, adaptive approach to European ballistic missile defence and NATO agreed to the plan at its November 2010 summit in Lisbon, Portugal.
The new approach will begin with existing technology and add more sophisticated systems now in development to build sea and land-based missile defence systems in Europe throughout the rest of this decade.