Poland assigns FA-50GF fighters to quick reaction alert duty

Poland's FA-50GF light combat aircraft have begun flying quick reaction alert duty within the country's air defense system. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said on X that the aircraft had entered combat service and would strengthen the eastern border.

Brigadier General Norbert Chojnacki, commander of the 2nd Tactical Air Wing, gave October 1, 2026 as the date alert duty started. He spoke at a conference marking two decades of F-16 operations in Poland.

The aircraft are based at the 23rd Tactical Air Base in Mińsk Mazowiecki. That base had earlier hosted MiG-29 fighters before they were moved to the 22nd Tactical Air Base in Malbork.

Poland ordered 48 FA-50s from Korea Aerospace Industries in 2022. The first 12, labelled FA-50GF for Gap Filler, were handed over in the second half of 2023. The remaining 36 are due in the more capable FA-50PL configuration. Alert duty gives the FA-50GF a defined place in Poland's air defense architecture after several years of work on crews, training and procedures for the new type.

Major General Ireneusz Nowak, operational commander of the Polish Armed Forces, said the FA-50GF would be used mainly against potential threats, among them jet-powered combat drones such as the Geran-4 and Geran-5. Polska Zbrojna carried his remarks on October 2, 2026.

According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, both are Russian jet-powered attack drones. It lists the Geran-5, first used in January 2026, as cruising at 450 to 600 kilometers per hour (280 to 373 miles per hour), and says Russia brought in the Geran-4 in May 2026 to counter Ukraine's interceptor drones.