A shift in Jasionka. alternatively of the British Sky Sabre system, NASAMS III rocket launchers from Norway appeared, and German Patriot batteries loosened US batteries. What remains unchanged is that the airport close Rzeszow is inactive 1 of the most urgent protected places on the east flank of NATO.
– We are here to defend critical infrastructure, which plays a key function in the global supply chain for Ukraine. Our soldiers are very motivated. In Poland, we will stay until Easter," stressed Colonel Erlend Hammervik-Elvenes, commander of the Norwegian Air defence Division, which was located in Jasionka in December. Over a 100 soldiers arrived in Poland, as well as the NASAMS III air defence strategy battery. The spread itself was a challenge for the Norwegian army. rocket launchers from the home unit were transported to Orkanger Port. From there on board, they went to Gdynia. The last, nearly 700 kilometres, phase of the journey from Tricity to Rzeszów defeated on trucks. Already in place, the Norwegians were subordinate to the European AirCOM Command. The component thus became part of NATO's integrated air and rocket defence. On 19 December, he reached full operational readiness.
The Norwegians replaced British soldiers in Jasionka who had been guarding airspace around the base since mid-2022, using Sky Sabre launchers. NASAMS III itself is 1 of the most modern systems of this kind in the world. It is produced by Norwegian company Kongsberg in collaboration with American Raytheon. NASAMS consists of a fire control unit, radar, launchers and rockets. It works perfectly in combating fast, low flying and maneuvering targets specified as enemy aircraft or rockets. It can harm them over a distance of respective twelve kilometers. At the same time NASAMS can cooperate with another systems – for example Patriot launchers.
Currently, respective countries usage the system. NASAMS batteries cover key objects in Washington. specified launchers besides have the equipment of armies of Australia, Indonesia, and the Netherlands. Finally, the strategy went to Ukraine, where it confirmed its value in the fight against Russian rocket and aviation troops. The NASAMS III variant entered service little than six years ago. The launchers in this version were adapted to launch AMRAAM, AMRAAM-ER and AIM-9X missiles.
Meanwhile, not only Norwegians checked in to Jasionka. Already in January they reached the base two Patriot batteries from 21 group anti-aircraft rockets German air force. On Podkarpacie, launchers and associated vehicles arrived from the Sanitz base, which is located in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. A full of about 200 soldiers are sent to Jasionka. According to German defence minister Boris Pistorius, the mission will take six months. Each Patriot battery consists of a maximum of 8 launchers, command vehicles along with radar and method safety wagons. The projectiles, which have been stationed in Poland for respective days, are equipped with kinetic anti-missiles, capable of dropping enemy missiles at a distance of respective twelve to about 150 kilometres.
But the base in Jasionka is not only covered from the ground. Airmen besides care about her safety. In December, the complex's safety was reinforced by 4 Norwegian 5th generation F-35 aircraft. The machines are on round-the-clock work at the 31st Tactical Aviation Base, which is located in Poznań-Krzesiny. “Since the beginning of the mission, we have already picked up aircraft in emergency mode,” admits Colonel Pil. “Morgan”, commander of the Norwegian aviation component. This happened in mid-December, after 1 of the massive Russian attacks on targets in Ukraine. The Norwegians were then informed that the machines of the possible opponent were heading for the Polish border. Eventually, however, they did not exceed it. “For any time we were operating close the border, and then we returned to the base,” says “Morgan”. Germany will join the Norwegians soon. As Minister Pistorius announced during his visit to Jasionka, patrol missions with German Eurofighter Typhoon fighters should be launched in Poland and Romania soon.
Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport at the center of military planners' attention It was already a fewer weeks before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. After the Kremlin began to escalate demands against its neighbour and NATO, soldiers from the 82nd US Army Airborne Division landed in Podkarpacie. After the war began, the base became powerful logistics hub through which military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine flowed. As Vice Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz late stressed, Jasionka passes from 90 to 95% of all east transports. Under Rzeszow are landing aircraft of western officials who go with visits to Kiev (the last section of the road defeats by rail), but besides machines with wounded Ukrainian soldiers. From Jasionka they go to Polish hospitals.
Meanwhile, Russian politicians and propagandists regularly list the Podkarpackie airport as a possible mark for the attack.
