Poland has taken the next step in the modernization of its air force, with U.S. approval given for a major upgrade of its fleet of F-16 fighters. The program will bring the jets to the F-16V standard and also suggests new weapons may be introduced, too. The Viper Midlife Upgrade is announced as Poland awaits F-35s and considers buying F-15EXs, while making significant investments in its armed forces across the board, to meet the threat from Russia.
As is typically the case for major U.S. arms sales, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced the State Department’s approval of the F-16 package for Poland yesterday. Poland’s Viper Midlife Upgrade would be valued at around $7.3 billion. Under the proposed deal, the full fleet of 48 Polish Air Force F-16C/D Block 52+ jets would be upgraded, receiving a considerable boost in capabilities.
It is important to stress that approved foreign arms sales announced through DSCA are not final and are subject to change, including as a result of negotiations between the country in question and relevant defense contractors.
Nevertheless, at the center of the upgrade is the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 active Scalable Agile Beam Radars (SABR), an electronically scanned array (AESA) radar which you can read more about in detail here.
This will be combined with a new Modular Mission Computer as well as a Next Generation Mission Computer or equivalent.
The pilots will be provided with Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS II), an upgraded and improved version of the original JHMCS that Poland already uses.
Other avionics include Embedded Global Positioning System (GPS) Inertial Navigation Systems (INS), AN/APX-126/127 Advanced Identification Friend or Foe (AIFF) with combined interrogator/transponder, and AN/ARC-238 radios (or equivalent).
In terms of self-protection equipment, the upgraded F-16s would be fitted with either the AN/ALQ-254V(1) Viper Shield or AN/ALQ-257 Integrated Viper Electronic Warfare Suite (IVEWS), which aligns with reports earlier this year that Northrop Grumman and L3Harris were facing off to provide the central electronic warfare component of an expected upgrade package for the Polish jets.
Other self-protection gear outlined by the DCSA announcement comprises Passive Airborne Warning System (PAWS-2) missile warning systems and AN/ALE-47 countermeasures dispensers.
The offensive weapons outlined in the package are all test and training versions and comprise three AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) captive-carry flight test vehicles, three GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) guided test vehicles, eight SDB II captive-carry reliability trainers, and two GBU-39(T-1)/B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) guided test vehicles.
Notably, neither the GBU-39/B nor the GBU-53/B, the latter of which is also known as the StormBreaker, are currently in the Polish arsenal.
There are also two AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder special air training missiles and two AIM-9X captive air training missiles.
F-16D carrying a load of StormBreakers during a test. (Raytheon)
With no operational weaponry included so far, these stores will be used for developmental test of the F-16V for Poland. They provide a fairly good indication of some of the munitions that are likely to be procured by the Polish Air Force in the future.
The DSCA statement on the approved sale also references MS-110 reconnaissance pods, although the number is not disclosed. Polish F-16s already fly with the dual-band DB-110 tactical reconnaissance pod, the precursor to the current MS-110, which adds a multi-spectral imaging (MSI) capability.
“The F-16 Viper mid-life upgrade will bolster Poland’s air defense and surveillance capabilities, support national security, and strengthen Poland’s defense and contributions to NATO,” the DSCA states.
No timelines for Poland’s potential Viper Midlife Upgrade were announced.
Upgrading the F-16 — known locally as the Jastrzab, or Hawk — makes a lot of sense for Poland, with the 48 examples (36 single-seat F-16Cs and 12 two-seat F-16Ds) set to be Poland’s most important combat aircraft for some time to come. These fighters currently serve with three squadrons, two of them based in Poznan-Krzesiny and one at Łask.
These aircraft are already highly capable and among the most potent F-16s of any NATO operator.
The jets can be configured with conformal fuel tanks (CFTs) and are armed with AIM-120C-5/7 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and AIM-9X Sidewinder that can be fired off-boresight using the JHMCS.
Current offensive stores include the AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missile, AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), and AGM-158A/B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), as well as Paveway laser-guided bombs, and Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM). The aircraft are fitted with Sniper targeting pods.
Once upgraded, Poland’s F-16s will remain highly viable until the F-35s become fully operationally capable and will be able to fight alongside those jets after. Furthermore, as has been pointed out in the past, the F-16V upgrade should also help the Polish Air Force integrate the F-35, with some significant commonality in terms of avionics, especially the radars.
The urgency of keeping the Polish fighter force at the top of its game — through new acquisitions and modernization programs — has been driven by the changing security situation in Eastern Europe, especially since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This has accelerated plans to replace Poland’s Cold War-era fleet of Soviet-made MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-22 Fitter combat aircraft.
Today, just 14 MiG-29s remain in service, after the transfer of a similar number to Ukraine in 2023, to restock its Fulcrum fleet that has been ravaged during the war with Russia. Poland is expected to retire its last MiG-29s in 2027.
Meanwhile, the last of the aging Su-22 Fitter swing-wing ground-attack/strike aircraft are now scheduled for withdrawal next year.
The new security situation has also led to Poland considering the possibility of arming its future F-35s with U.S. B61-12 thermonuclear bombs in the future, as you can read about here. Outfitting F-16s with these weapons also remains a possibility, although the stealth fighter offers many more advantages in the nuclear strike role.
Poland will start to receive its new fifth-generation fighters soon. The first F-35A from an order for 32 was officially rolled out in August in a ceremony at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas plant. The first pair of F-35s — locally named Husarz, or Hussar — are scheduled to be delivered in December.
There is also the possibility that Poland might further increase its fighter inventory, adding another new type in the shape of the F-15EX, the latest version of the Eagle.
Boeing made an announcement about its pitch to sell an unspecified number of F-15EXs to Poland in September last year, as we wrote about at the time.
As we noted then, even a relatively small F-15EX buy could be very useful for Poland, providing a platform with some niche capabilities that the F-16 and the F-35 can’t necessarily provide. In particular, the Eagle II offers significantly greater range and payload capacity that could be particularly useful for Poland when it comes to protecting the country’s airspace, where stealth would not necessarily be as critical, and increasing its capacity to conduct standoff strikes against surface targets. The ability to carry future hypersonic weapons could also be attractive as Poland seeks to further develop its long-range strike capabilities.
Poland has also recently introduced yet another warplane, the South Korea-made FA-50 light combat aircraft.
In July last year, Warsaw signed an agreement with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) to buy 48 FA-50s, as part of a huge arms transfer from South Korea to Poland. The jets are being rapidly delivered to backfill combat aircraft numbers after the transfer of 14 MiG-29s to Ukraine and the forthcoming retirement of the Su-22.
To speed up the deliveries, Poland is receiving the FA-50s in two discrete configurations. The first 12 FA-50s, in Block 10 standard, were delivered to Poland in mid-2023. The next batch of 36 aircraft will be in the more advanced Block 20 configuration, including active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, Sniper targeting pod, Link 16 datalink, and AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles. Deliveries of the Block 20 aircraft are due to begin next year.
Recently, there has been some criticism of the FA-50 buy and, especially, the lack of certain weapons for these aircraft.
In a parliamentary speech last month, Poland’s Deputy Minister of Defense Cezary Tomczyk derided the FA-50s as “a training-combat aircraft that is for training but not for combat.”
The main point of concern is the integration of AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, which were expected for the Block 20 version, but which KAI now says could take much longer — if it’s even feasible.
“[AMRAAM integration] requires U.S. approval,” Chongho Yoon, the vice president of KAI, told Defense24.com. “A feasibility study is underway; all is to happen in three to four years. Technically this is doable, but other areas need to be addressed. KAI is currently working on such research and the matter is to be clarified in two to three years.”
Whether or not the FA-50s eventually receive AMRAAM, they will at least benefit from being compatible with other weapons used by the F-16. Should Poland buy more weapons for its upgraded Vipers, these could also be used to arm the FA-50 fleet.
As well as new combat aircraft, Poland is also investing in its broader air defense architecture, notably receiving U.S. approval to purchase elements of a new airborne early warning system based on an aerostat — a type of uncrewed tethered airship. You can read more about that intriguing project, which has parallels with the canceled American system known as JLENS, in this previous article.
While not unexpected, the announcement of the proposed Viper upgrade for Poland is yet more evidence of the country’s efforts to strengthen its air force as it seeks to provide a more effective deterrent to possible Russian aggression as well as a more capable bulwark should Moscow make a move against Poland or another NATO state in the region, something that officials are increasingly concerned about.
This military expansion is reflected across the Polish Armed Forces and has been aided by a hike in defense expenditure, with Warsaw now spending 4.23 percent of its GDP on its armed forces, more than double the NATO target of two percent. While the forthcoming F-35 fleet will be the spearhead of one of the most capable European air forces, upgraded F-16s will be a further expression of its military modernization.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com