U.S. Air Force F-16s deployed to Bulgaria and Poland this week, putting fighters in multiple locations in eastern Europe and in relatively close proximity to Ukraine, which just started to receive F-16s of its own.
Six F-16s from the Oklahoma Air National Guard’s 138th Fighter Wing arrived at Łask Air Base, Poland, on July 16, while six F-16s from the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, Italy, landed at Bezmer Air Base, Bulgaria, the same day.
The Oklahoma F-16s are in Poland as part of a rotational detachment of the 52nd Operations Group—in 2011, the U.S. and Poland signed an agreement establishing a continual detachment of U.S. aircraft in Poland, primarily of F-16s and C-130s.
This latest deployment is a “long-planned, bilateral training between U.S. and Polish air forces to enhance partner interoperability, maintain joint readiness, and preserve a rapid response capability essential to ensuring peace and stability in the region,” U.S. Air Forces in Europe stated in a release.
Łask is located around 200 miles from Poland’s border from Ukraine and has hosted a steady rotation of USAF fighters since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Most recently, four F-35s from RAF Lakenheath, U.K., deployed there in April as part of the NATO air policing mission.
The Aviano F-16s are in Bulgaria for Thracian Viper, a biannual exercise in the Balkan state. Forces from Romania, Greece, Croatia, and Italy will also participate. Bulgaria is slated to get F-16s of its own in 2025, buying the newest Block 70 aircraft from Lockheed Martin, and the exercise will give its Soviet-era fighters an early chance to integrate and work with F-16s.
Bezmer is less than 250 miles from southern Ukraine and close to the Black Sea.
The U.S. Air Force has upped its presence throughout eastern Europe and NATO’s eastern flank over the past several years, policing the airspace for Russian incursions while the war in Ukraine rages on. Other deployment locations have included Romania and Estonia.
Meanwhile, countries in the region like Poland and Bulgaria have sought to upgrade their air forces with new fighters. While Bulgaria is buying 16 F-16s, Poland is purchasing F-35s. Norway, the Netherlands, and Belgium have all pledged F-16s to Ukraine and are in the process of buying F-35s as well.
At the recent NATO summit in Washington, D.C., officials announced that F-16 deliveries to Ukraine are underway, and the Ukrainians will start to fly them operationally this summer.