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| Polish Air Forces The history of aviation is in fact the history of the 20th century. It had begun with the first successful flights of the Wright brothers (since 1903 on) and in 1911 the planes were first used in the battle. Further development of aviation was sped up by the two World Wars. For a long time, however, the planes were used only as a support and cover for the infantry troops as well as for the reconnaissance purposes. Nevertheless in the days of World War II the air forces became already a key factor in the struggles of the involved parties. Thousands of bombers and fighters had been produced over that time. In Poland the air squadrons were organized since the first days of independence, although initially only abroad as in France, for example. Beginning from the 1930s the first aeroplanes constructed entirely in Poland (such as PZL P.7a, PZL P.11c, PZL.23 Karaś ("Crucian carp"), and PZL.37 Łoś ("Moose") had been introduced to the army, which in 1939 had about 750 planes. After the September campaign most of the rescued pilots and equipment were evacuated off the country. Some of the Polish pilots took part in the Battle of Britain in 1940, where they had won a considerable renown (the squadrons 302 and 303 in particular). After the War the new formation of the National Air Defense have been established. The Polish Army remained up to 1989 under strong influence of the USSR. Therefore it used mainly the Soviet machines of the MiG, Tu and Su types. In the 1950s the first jet planes had been introduced, and in the 1960s the supersonic planes as well. Since entering the NATO structures in 1999 the Polish Air Forces are continuously being updated and adapted to conform the new requirements. The TS-11 Iskra Airplane The one-engine jet training airplane, designed in the late 1950s by Dr. Eng. Tadeusz Sołtyk team at PZL Okęcie works. It is equipped in one 23mm machine gun and two rocket launchpads. In the 60s four world records have been beaten by that plane. Apart from military training, its different versions were applied also for civil and aerobatics purposes. For some time the plane was at use by the Indian Air Forces. The TS-11 airplane finally came out of production in 1987. The F-16 Fighting Falcon Airplane The multipurpose jet fighter plane of the American origin (General Dynamics Co., currently a division of Lockheed Martin Corporation). Since the late 1970s more than 4500 F-16s were produced. It is the most popular fighter plane in the world, used by the air forces of 25 countries. It is famous of its acceleration, maneuverability, advanced avionics and relatively comfortable service, a rare thing at enormous gravitational overloadings. In the next few years Poland expects to increase its air force by 48 F-16 C/D Block 52 Advanced airplanes. |