Polish crews are already trained, two Swedish early warning aircraft are already in Poland and will guard our skies. Saab 340 AEW has radars that can detect enemy drones or missiles even from several hundred kilometers. From a much greater distance than in the case of ground radars.
The images and personal details of these pilots are now a closely guarded secret – they will operate equipment crucial to our security. The crews of the first Polish AWACS, or early warning aircraft, have just completed training.
– These planes are a huge reinforcement for the security of our homeland and a huge reinforcement also for the operations of the Polish army. They will be such long-range eyes – says Paweł Bejda, deputy minister of national defense from the Polish People's Party.
In July last year, Poland ordered two Saab 340 AEW aircraft from Sweden. These are aircraft previously used by the United Arab Emirates Air Force. Thanks to this, they were acquired quickly and cheaply – for about PLN 230 million.
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– SAABs appeared in the Polish sky at the beginning of this year, when we actually started training. However, we will start operational tasks in September this year – informs Commander Pilot Andrzej Szczotka from the Naval Aviation Brigade Command.
The flying radar crew consists of six people. They can perform missions lasting up to six hours. The Polish AWACS reaches an altitude of seven thousand meters, and its radar can see other planes within a radius of 350 kilometers. This means that one machine can control a significant part of Polish airspace.
What will the new planes be used for?
– The crews will be able to see what is happening far into the Królewiec Oblast, far into Belarus and also Ukraine, and thus they will in a way seal the possibilities of radar surveillance of Polish airspace, possibly preventing the entry of further maneuvering missiles – informs Łukasz Pacholski, a journalist from the publishing house “Zespół Badań i Analiz Militarnych”.
Until now, Poland had to ask allies for support in the form of AWACS.
We talk about the importance of flying radars with a former Polish MIG pilot. Captain Witold Sokół says that each fighter has its own radar, but with limited capabilities.
– Using radar in the immediate vicinity of the enemy poses the risk that even modern radars may be detected. Using radar in the air is like using a flashlight in a dark basement. If I turn on a flashlight in a dark basement, I will see the enemy, but the enemy will also see my flashlight – explains Captain Witold Sokół, a former MIG-29 pilot from the Air Force Academy.
AWACS is like a giant searchlight that shows its pilots enemy aircraft while remaining safe and invisible beyond their range.
The Saabs will be supplemented by four aerostats ordered from the United States, large balloons equipped with radars. The Swedish planes are a bridging solution. In the future, Poland plans to buy more modern machines.
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