The 32nd Tactical Air Base in Łask has become a cornerstone of Poland’s air defense, safeguarding not just Polish territory but also NATO airspace.
The facility, located in central Poland, is one of the two bases where Poland’s F-16 fighter jets are stationed, the other being the 31st Air Base in Krzesiny, near the western city of Poznań.
While the base maintains a veil of secrecy over its operations, TVP World was recently allowed access to some of its non-sensitive areas.
Łask houses more than a dozen F-16 fighter jets, tasked with flying patrol missions over the Baltic Sea region and thus playing a crucial role in defending NATO skies and maintaining regional security.
Col. Piotr Ostrouch, the base’s commander, told TVP World’s correspondent, Kazimierz Łysiak, that the significance of the base for NATO had grown since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The politics on NATO’s eastern flank, he said, have been “completely changed.”
“Now the base is an element of the new set of missions for NATO,” he told TVP World. “This is NATO Shielding, so now there are more jet fighters and more air-defense systems on the ground to protect NATO soldiers, and battle groups, and our civilians.
With jets flying regular missions from the base, there are, inevitably, encounters with the Russian Air Force.
“Sometimes they are waving to us and sending their greetings, and sometimes they are more aggressive,” one pilot, who could not be named for security reasons, told TVP World. “They want to show their armaments and the missiles they are carrying.
“We have to maintain professionalism in those situations,” he added.
While the base maintains a veil of secrecy over its operations, TVP World was recently allowed access to some of its non-sensitive areas.
Łask houses more than a dozen F-16 fighter jets, tasked with flying patrol missions over the Baltic Sea region and thus playing a crucial role in defending NATO skies and maintaining regional security.
Col. Piotr Ostrouch, the base’s commander, told TVP World’s correspondent, Kazimierz Łysiak, that the significance of the base for NATO had grown since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The politics on NATO’s eastern flank, he said, have been “completely changed.”
“Now the base is an element of the new set of missions for NATO,” he told TVP World. “This is NATO Shielding, so now there are more jet fighters and more air-defense systems on the ground to protect NATO soldiers, and battle groups, and our civilians.
With jets flying regular missions from the base, there are, inevitably, encounters with the Russian Air Force.
“Sometimes they are waving to us and sending their greetings, and sometimes they are more aggressive,” one pilot, who could not be named for security reasons, told TVP World. “They want to show their armaments and the missiles they are carrying.
“We have to maintain professionalism in those situations,” he added.
Source: TVP World
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