Poland will expand a military base hosting the US Combat Aviation Brigade in the coming years, the nation’s defense minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, announced on Monday during a visit to the facility. Located in the central Polish city of Powidz, the base is expected to strengthen the US Air Force operation capabilities in support of Polish and NATO forces in the region, he said.
The facility will get new hangars and warehouses as well as a bulk fuel storage facility nearby, the minister said, accompanied by US ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski. The Powidz base hosts the US Apache strike helicopters.
Powidz “is turning into a military complex, preparing to support Polish and NATO forces on the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance,” Blaszczak said amid unprecedented tensions between NATO and Russia over Moscow’s continued military offensive in Ukraine.
The base expansion comes as part of the 2020 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between Washington and Warsaw. The accord “creates conditions for a permanent, long-term presence of the US Armed Forces in Poland,” the Polish Defense Ministry said, adding that it would “strengthen” national security.