On Thursday, 4 December 2025, NATO Allied Air Command announced the deployment of five German Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon multirole aircraft to the 22nd Tactical Air Base in Królewo Malborskie as part of the NATO Air Policing mission.
Photos: NATO Allied Air Command
The five aircraft, together with a 150-person air and ground crew, were detached from the German Air Force’s (Luftwaffe) 31st Tactical Air Wing “Boelcke” (Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 31, TLG 31) based at Nörvenich Air Base in North Rhine-Westphalia. They are armed with AIM-120 AMRAAM medium-range and AIM-2000 IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missiles.
“Our deployment to Poland highlights Germany’s unwavering commitment to the shared security of the Euro-Atlantic area. We look forward to working with our Polish counterparts as we take on NATO’s Air Policing mission for the next four months” said the Detachment Commander, Callsign “Colonel”.
The announcement that four aircraft, and later two more (ultimately five), would be deployed to Poland came after the Alliance launched Operation Eastern Sentry on 12 September of this year. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz had also mentioned the imminent deployment during his visit to Berlin with a government delegation for Polish-German consultations on 1 December.
Interestingly, this is already the second deployment of TLG 31 aircraft to Poland this year, after another five aircraft were stationed at the 23rd Tactical Air Base in Mińsk Mazowiecki from August to September. Earlier, starting in April, German aircraft were deployed to Romania’s 57th Air Base in Constanța (Baza 57 Aeriană Mihail Kogălniceanu).
As the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces (DO RSZ) announced this morning, the German aircraft will begin their combat duty on 6 December.
“Their presence strengthens the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) system and directly enhances the level of protection of Polish airspace and the Alliance’s eastern flank. Poland’s air defence consists of continuous, round-the-clock readiness, fully integrated with NATO’s air defence system. The Polish Air Force constantly safeguards Poland’s skies, maintaining the capability to respond immediately to any threat.”
During the four-month deployment to Poland, German airmen will work closely with NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) in Uedem, Germany—responsible for controlling Allied airspace north of the Alps, as well as with the Polish Air Force.
The German contingent arrived in Poland following the departure of the F-35A Lightning II aircraft previously deployed from Norway and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Od 6 grudnia br. niemieckie 🇩🇪 myśliwce Eurofighter Typhoon rozpoczną pełnienie dyżurów bojowych z 22. Bazy Lotnictwa Taktycznego w Malborku w ramach misji @NATO #AirPolicing.
Ich obecność wzmacnia system szybkiego reagowania (QRA) i bezpośrednio zwiększa poziom ochrony… https://t.co/ifLKo3v6JT
— Dowództwo Operacyjne RSZ (@DowOperSZ) December 5, 2025
Od dziś pięć sojuszniczych niemieckich myśliwców Eurofighter Typhoon rozpoczynają pełnienie dyżurów bojowych z 22. Bazy Lotnictwa Taktycznego w Malborku w ramach misji @NATO.
Ich obecność to wzmocnienie wschodniej flanki Sojuszu 🤝 Współpraca, aktywność i konsekwentne budowanie… pic.twitter.com/BZCS3C90BJ
— Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (@KosiniakKamysz) December 6, 2025
