Two American F-22A Raptor fighters have arrived at the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Łask. The machines belong to the 90th Fighter Squadron “The Dicemen” subordinate to the 3rd Wing of the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. In Poland, their task will of course be to strengthen the air defense of NATO’s eastern flank as part of the NATO Air Shielding mission.
On their way from the United States, six Elmendorf – Richardson Raptor call signs CUBE11–16 landed on July 26 at RAF Lakenheath. On the route leading over Ellesmere Island and Greenland to England, they were accompanied by the KC-46A Pegasus and KC-135R Stratotanker flying tankers, which were given the charming BOBBY call sign.
F-22 Raptor fighters from the 90th #USA Fighter Squadron landed at the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Łask. One of the world’s most modern fighters is coming to Poland as part of the #NATOAirShielding mission on the eastern flank of the Alliance. pic.twitter.com/zsxHU6TZXN
– Mariusz Błaszczak (@mblaszczak) August 4, 2022
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The first contingent to arrive in Lakenheath consisted of fighters with numbers 04-4074, 05-4090, 06-4110, 06-4112, 07-4151 and 10-4193. The second contingent arrived in England on July 28 – one day late, the reasons for which have not been disclosed.
It has not yet been announced when the next Raptors will report to Łask. It is also not known whether all ten will come to Poland. The Greek base of Souda in Crete also appears in unofficial reports; the presence of the F-22A at this location could also be a signal to Ankara at a time of increasing tensions between our two allies, Greece and Turkey.
Tonight’s F-22 Raptors arrival at RAF Lakenheath pic.twitter.com/t4lEIk6c4m
– Mark (@ random_man21) July 28, 2022
The Raptors will take over the mission of watching over Europe from the F-35A Lightning II, which was transferred to Spangdahlem on May 2. Machines belonging to the 158th Vermont National Air Guard Fighter Wing returned to the United States yesterday.
Raptors are rare but not unprecedented visitors to Łask. They went there for the first time in August 2015. They then flew in from the German Spangdahlem base, accompanied by four F-16s and a single C-130. However, this is the first visit of the F-22A in our country and on our continent since the beginning of the barbaric attack by the Russian Federation on Ukraine.
We also note that on July 29, four Italian Typhoons arrived at the 22nd Tactical Air Base in Malbork as part of NATO’s enhanced Air Policing airspace surveillance mission. However, while air policing has been functioning under the aegis of NATO for the last thirty years, air shielding is a novelty devised in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine. The idea of air shielding is to operate under a unified allied command (as opposed to the inherently more fragmented air policing) in terms of not only defense against enemy planes, but also anti-missile defense.
Four Eurofighters Typhoon from @ItalianAirForce touched down at Malbork Air Base🇵🇱on Thursday The deployment of Italian fighters takes place under the auspices of the existing NATO enhanced Air Policing posture introduced in 2014. #enhancedAirPolicing #WeareNATO #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com / YgCc80tsUI
– Poland MOD 🇵🇱 (@Poland_MOD) July 29, 2022
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US Air Force / Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald
