Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1536266
A third Atlas flight took place on 1 April. The following day, despite difficult weather conditions, six Swedish Saab JAS‑39C/D Gripen fighters arrived at Królewo Malborskie: again flying direct from their northern base. This marks Sweden's first NATO air policing mission since joining the Alliance. Unlike the British rotation, these flights could not have been tracked on public‑flight apps. It is known, however, that one Swedish C‑130H Hercules had previously delivered some equipment; the remainder likely traveled by ferry on the Karlskrona–Gdynia route. Hosting two foreign contingents at Królewo Malborskie has been a considerable logistical effort. Polish authorities had to prepare the necessary ground infrastructure, including two permanent hangars — one for each contingent — and erect eight lightweight shelters on the ramps to house flight‑ready fighters. Some aircraft, chiefly the JAS‑39C Gripen, operate from a third apron without weather protection. Publicly announced schedules indicate the Swedes will remain until the end of May and the British until the end of June. In the first month of operations there were at least four scramble alerts triggered by Russian military aircraft in international airspace over the Baltic Sea: three involved British Typhoons and one (on 24 April) involved the Swedish Gripens. This experience was new to Sweden's post‑NATO accession mission ‑ a first time for them. The international story of the 22nd Air Base began in 2014, after the outbreak of the first phase of the war in Ukraine destabilized security in this part of Europe. The first rotation was provided by the French (Dassault Rafale, later replaced by Mirage 2000). Since then, Belgium (F‑16), the www.fragoutmag.com