Polish air force officials welcome the first of 48 F-16 Fighting Falcons Nov. 9 during an arrival ceremony at the 31st Air Base at Poznan, Poland. Gen. Tom Hobbins, representing the U.S. Air Force chief of staff, attended the ceremony that marked Poland's transformation from Soviet-style equipment to some of the most modern systems in Europe and NATO. (U.S. Air Force photo/Brig. Gen. Duane Jones)
Sweden was robbed. Robbed, damn it!
Good for them. They were one of the first to help us in iraq. Send some more to "New Europe"
"Poland's F-16s represent the most sophisticated aircraft in Eastern Europe"
Hmm... maybe avionics wise. If we're talking about air-to-air combat, I still think the Mig-29 has got the Falcon beat. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the F-16 due to its versatility and believe we should have fielded them in proportionally bigger numbers. That said, I say it depends on where the Poles are getting their F-16s from (the article makes it sound like they're old U.S. and how modern they are. Maybe they can get some nice Israeli upgrades. That said, I wouldn't dismiss the Mig-29 as a piece of aging Soviet equipment--especially if they got upgrades as well--although they would be a hindrance from an interoperability standpoint.
God Bless the great nation of Poland.
Why don't we buy all of Poland's Soviet equipment for OPFOR purposes???