WARSAW, POLAND — A US Air Force F-22 Raptor will monitor what’s happening on NATO’s eastern flank. The fighter landed in Poland and together with the Polish Air Force will guarantee the security of the alliance. This is the closest F-22 to Ukraine.
W Polsce wylądowały amerykańskie myśliwce F-22 Raptor. Jedne z najnowocześniejszych samolotów świata będą współdziałać z polskimi pilotami kontynuując wsparcie na wschodniej flance Sojuszu. pic.twitter.com/juIkXe9rcg— Mariusz Błaszczak (@mblaszczak) April 11, 2023
Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak announced on Twitter that US F-22 Raptor fighter jets had landed in Poland. The aircraft will cooperate with the Polish, continuing to provide support to the eastern flank of the Alliance.
As announced by the US Air Force Europe and Africa Command, the aircraft deployed as part of a rotational mission in Powidz [Wielkopolskie Province] belong to the 94th Fighter Squadron from Langley-Eustis Air Force Base in Virginia and will replace the F- 15 aircraft from the 48th Fighter Wing. The distance from Powidz to the Ukrainian border is just over 450 km [280 miles]
This is not the first visit of these machines to Poland. Last year in September, the F-22 Report flew over the Westerplatte peninsula. In August, these machines landed at the Lask base. There are also about 300 representatives of the US Air Force at the base. The F-22s were deployed in Poland until October last year as part of NATO’s eastern flank combat presence in the Baltic and Black Sea regions.
The F-22 Raptor is a fifth-generation fighter, the first in history of this class to be used operationally. It features advanced sensors and armament [including up to 8 medium-range air-to-air guided missiles in internal armament chambers], but also supersonic cruising speed without the use of an afterburner [supercruise].
The fighter was manufactured with stealth technology by Lockheed Martin until 2011. Due to decisions based on critical, secret technology, F-22 aircraft were not sold to any other country. The number of F-22 Raptors produced is just over 180.
The Chinese balloon was the first aircraft sH๏τ down by a Raptor in combat. Machines of this type, although originally created as interceptors, also destroyed ground targets of terrorist organizations, e.g. in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also participated in the operation against the Wagner group over Syria in 2018.
