Polish Fighters Grounded For Almost 3 Months
From January until the middle of March 2024 the Polish Air Force’s fleet of FA-50GF light fighter jets was grounded due to a lack of documentation provided by the Korean manufacturer – states Onet. According to the report the manufacturer did not provide the Polish Air Force with the remaining certification for the pyrotechnical material used in the ejector seat mechanism. This forced the PAF to ground all 12 jets while paperwork and preparations were carried out, the certification was finally delivered in March 2024.
The publication of the article was led to criticism being levelled at the former Minister of Defense – Mariusz Blaszczak, who decided on an emergency purchase of FA-50 light fighter jets.
Blaszczak responded to the criticism in a post on X (formerly twitter) stating that the FA-50 jets were obtained to enable quicker and more cost-effective training of pilots and to eleviate issues arising from the replacement of Poland’s older Soviet-era aircraft. Balszcazk also noted that the South Korean Jets could relieve some of the pressure on Poland’s smaller fleet of F-16 aircraft which is currently overtasked due to the reduced number of MiG-29s following donations to Ukraine.
The infrastructure for the exploitation of the FA-50s has not been properly secured with additional agreements and equipment. The pilots coming back from training in South Korea have not been able to maintain readiness and familiarity while they await aircraft due to a lack of simulators which are scheduled for delivery in 2025.
The Polish Air Force has secured 3 years worth of parts as part of the initial contract with future parts requiring a public tender for procurement. What seems to be a much larger issue is the fact that newly ordered weapons systems, namely the AIM-9X Sidewinder cannot be used with the FA-50GFs in service due to a lack of integration.
The future of the FA-50 platform has become a political football with opponents criticising the former governments procurement. Paweł Poncyljusz, a former member of the Sejm’s National Defense Commission (SKON), suggested that it would be best to terminate any contracts for future deliveries of light fighter jets from South Korea. Despite this deliveries of the new aircraft will continue, the delivery of training and support equipment and the forthcoming FA-50PL variant will solve current issues with Poland’s South Korean jets.
Cover picture by courtesy of ROKAF under CC BY-2.0 License