Poznan-Krzesiny

General

This airbase of the Si³y Powietrzne or Polish Air Force is located south of the city of Poznan, close to Krzesiny. History started here when Nazi Germany built a factory here for construction of Focke-Wulf fighters. After the war, it was taken over by the Russian Air Force which handed it over to the Polish Air Force in 1954. In 2001, the structure was changed here into 31.BLot and 3.elt. At first, it flew with MiG-21MF fighters until they were retired in late 2002 and re-equipped with the MiG-21bis in August 2002. The last MiG-21's of the unit were retired in January 2004 after the squadron flew its last mission on 16 December 2003. The unit became the first unit to receive the F-16 in late 2006. In this period, the airfield was extensively rebuild to house the newly acquired F-16C/D fighters including a large apron and a new shelter area in the north-western part. In the meantime, many efforts were made to comply with NATO procedures as quickly as possible, to assure a proper operational level before transitioning into the F-16. The first acquaintance with this new fighter was during the exercise Sentry White Falcon 2005. Six F-16 aircraft of 183rd FW/Illinois ANG made the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean to fly escort, intercept, and some air-to-ground missions with locally based MiG-29, TS-11 and Su-22 fighters. Only one week later, this base was home for some F/A-18 Hornets of VMFA-134/USMC during exercise Clean Hunter 2005. In 2008, 6.elt moved in to convert to the F-16 as well. At the same time, the command structure was changed to improve compliance with NATO standards and the 31. Skrzydùo Lotnicza Taktycznego (31.SLT) was formed.