Press Releases 2006

U.S. and Poland Sign Agreement for Additional F-16 Pilot Training

10 February 2006

On Friday, February 10th, at the Blair House in Washington, the U.S. and Poland signed a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Letter of Offer and Acceptance with Poland for additional F-16 pilot training valued at $40M. A grant agreement was also signed granting Poland $40M in Coalition Solidarity funds for the purchase. These funds were provided to Poland under the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005 (P.L. 109-13, May 11, 2005) and are part of the $100M in military assistance President Bush promised Poland last year.

The FMS agreement will provide additional F-16 pilot training to 24 Polish Air Force pilots in the U.S. as well as supplementary training in Poland in support of the Polish F-16 program, leading to an increased level of interoperability and standardization with U.S. and NATO forces. In April 2003, Poland signed a $3.5B FMS agreement for 48 F-16C/D multi-role combat aircraft with support. The aircraft will start arriving in Poland this November with the last aircraft scheduled to arrive in 2008.