Polish Air Forces
| Polish Air Force Siły Powietrzne |
|
|---|---|
Polish Air Force's Eagle
|
|
| Active | 1918–present |
| Country |
 Poland
|
| Branch | Polish Armed Forces |
| Size | 36,500 military 475 aircraft |
| Part of | Polish Armed Forces |
| Engagements |
Polish-Soviet War World War II War in Iraq War in Afghanistan |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | Gen. Broni Lech Majewski |
| Chief of Staff | Gen. Dyw. Sławomir Kałuziński |
| Insignia | |
| Flag |  |
| Roundel |  |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | Su-22 |
| Fighter | F-16, MiG-29 |
| Helicopter | Mi-8, Mi-17, PZL W-3, PZL SW-4 |
| Reconnaissance | PZL M-28 |
| Trainer | PZL-130, TS-11, M-346 |
| Transport | C-130, C-295, M-28 |
The Polish Air Force (Siły Powietrzne, literally "Air Forces") is a military branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej (literally: Flight-and-Air Defence Forces). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 16,425 military personnel and about 475 aircraft, distributed among 10 bases throughout Poland.
The Polish Air Force can trace its origins to the months following the end of World War I in 1918. During the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939, 70% of planes and aircraft were destroyed. Most pilots, after the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17, escaped to Hungary and Romania and continued fighting throughout World War II in air squadrons, first in France, then in Britain, and later also the Soviet Union.
Military aviation in free Poland started even before officially acknowledged date of regaining independence (11 November 1918). Poland was under German and Austro-Hungarian occupation until the armistice, but the Poles started to take control as the Central Powers collapsed. Initially, Polish air force consisted of mostly German and Austrian aircraft, such as the LVG C.V, AEG C.IV and Rumpler C.I, left by former occupants or captured from them, mostly during the Greater Poland Uprising. These planes were first used by the Polish Air Force in the Polish-Ukrainian War in late 1918, during combat operations centered around the city of Lwów (now Lviv). On 2 November Polish units took over an airfield Lewandówka in Lviv, and on 5 November 1918 pilot Stefan Bastyr performed the first combat flight of Polish aircraft (Hansa-Brandenburg C.I).
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