"An crucial message for our air force and the full Polish Armed Forces – the first female became an F-16 pilot!" – that's how Kosiniak-Kamish started the entry on the X platform.
Deputy Prime Minister continued: "Your officer serves at the 32nd Tactical Aviation Base in Grace. The training was conducted in the US and can already pilot our fighters. Congratulations." The minister besides reported another female following in the footsteps of an officer. It is presently undergoing training at the 31st Tactical Aviation Base in Krzesiny.
First Pole pilot F-16 aircraft
F-16 is the backbone of the Polish Air Force – 1 of 5 types of armed forces in Poland. Currently, the military has 48 multitasking fighters of this type. The contract for their transportation was signed on 18 April 2003, and the first 4 machines – F-16 Jastrząb – went to Poland on 11 November 2006.
In 2020, Poland signed another contract – this time to acquisition 32 5th generation Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II aircraft. They will be stationed in bases in Grace and Swidwin, and the first 1 to be delivered at the turn of 2025 and 2026.
Currently, 24 Polish pilots and 90 method personnel are trained in the United States. In the future, further specialists will gain experience already in the country – under the guidance of trained instructors in the USA.
According to TVP Info, the first female in the planet to become an F-16 fighter pilot was Dutch Manja Blok, seated behind his rudders in 1991. In Poland, the pioneer of hunting aviation was Katarzyna Tomiak-Siemieniewicz – she was the first female in the past of our country to become a fighter pilot.
Let us remind that among women serving in the Polish Air Force is besides Urszula Brzezińska-Hołownia – pilot of the MiG-29 fighter, privately wife of the talker of the Sejm and candidate for president of the Republic of Poland, Szymon Holownia.
