Kraków 2015-04-29
Polish Military Contingent Orlik 6 in Lithuania.
In September 2014, when the Polish MiG-29 from Malbork was leaving Lithuania, it was already known that in January 2015, MiG-29 planes from Mińsk Mazowiecki would arrive here to perform another Orlik 6 mission.
On December 15, 2014, the President of the Republic of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski, signed a decision on the use of the Polish Military Contingent (PMC) as part of the Allied Forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the military airspace surveillance mission of the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Latvia in the period from December 22, 2014. until May 15, 2015. In fact, PKW Orlik stayed in Lithuania from 12/01/2015 to 29/04/2015 as the 37th rotation. Although the official farewell to the Orlik 6 mission by the Minister of National Defense, Tomasz Siemoniak, took place on January 8, 2015. For the purposes of the mission, the Government of the Republic of Poland has secured the amount of PLN 9 million. A similar amount was secured for the previous mission. Although the actual amount spent for Orlik 5 in 2014, it was below PLN 2 million. This overestimation resulted from the possibility of real clashes with Moscow state forces, which would entail costs.
This time, the contingent’s manpower was increased to 120 soldiers and military personnel. There were 20 more people. Officially, it was said that this amount was higher due to the winter period. But the main cause was the ever increasing threat from the Moscow state. As before, only four MIG-29 planes were sent. The unit commander was Lt. Col. Piotr Iwaszko.
It is worth emphasizing that Polish soldiers this time supported Italy, which led this round. Interestingly, Italy participated in the Baltic Air Policing mission for the first time. The next participants of the mission were the Spaniards from Eurofighter, who were stationed in Estonia at the Ämari base, and the Belgians from the F-16, who were stationed in Malbork. Such a system of operation functioned from May 2014, after the Moscow state took over Crimea.
On March 11, 2015, the Republic of Lithuania celebrated the 25th anniversary of independence. The main celebrations took place at the Independence Square in Vilnius. The ceremony was attended by representatives of PKW Orlik 6 together with the commander, Lieutenant Colonel Piotr Iwaszko.
Like previous missions, this one was full of courtesy visits from politicians, NATO commanders, veterans, children and youth. You could read a lot about it in the press and on the Internet. However, the future accounts of the mission participants who have intervened more than 40 times in the face of airspace violations by the Moscow air force may be much more interesting. However, we have to wait a while for these relations.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman