Poland’s F-16 pilot shortage exposes limits of rapid military expansion
- Pilot shortage suggests personnel and training capacity may not be keeping pace with equipment purchases
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- Pilot shortage suggests personnel and training capacity may not be keeping pace with equipment purchases
By Jo Harper
WARSAW (AA) - Poland’s rapid military expansion is running into a growing personnel problem, with the country lacking enough trained pilots to make full use of its F-16 fighter fleet.
The Polish Air Force has 47 F-16 fighter jets but only around 40 trained pilots, while at least 70 would be needed for effective operation of the fleet, the daily Rzeczpospolita reported on Monday.
The figures are unofficial because the Defense Ministry considers information on the number of trained pilots and instructors classified.
Training a new F-16 pilot takes around two years, making the shortage difficult to resolve quickly.
Only a small number of jet pilots were trained at Poland’s military aviation academy in Deblin last year, according to the newspaper.
The problem has also been aggravated by the transfer of some experienced F-16 pilots to Poland’s incoming F-35 fleet.
The shortage highlights a broader challenge for Poland as it tries to convert one of Europe’s fastest military buildups into operational capability.
Warsaw has sharply increased defense spending since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in 2022, with military expenditure expected to reach around 4.8% of GDP in 2026.
Poland has bought or ordered US F-35 fighters, Abrams tanks, AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, Patriot air-defense systems and HIMARS rocket launchers as part of its modernization program.
In August 2025, Poland also signed a $3.8 billion (€3.390 billion) agreement to modernize its F-16 fleet to the Viper standard, improving radar, electronic warfare, communications and interoperability with the F-35 and other new weapons systems.
But the pilot shortage suggests that personnel and training capacity may not be keeping pace with equipment purchases.
According to Rzeczpospolita, a similar problem could emerge with Poland’s planned fleet of AH-64E Apache helicopters, for which the armed forces could eventually require as many as 400 pilots.