The Polish air force has integrated the mission control software and improved the availability rate of its Lockheed Martin F-16 fleet, but a lack of spares is hampering further progress. The air force now has 27 F-16C/D Block 52M+ aircraft on inventory and another four will be delivered by year-end, followed by the last 17 next year. But maintenance troubles mean just 16 are available. According to air force commander in chief Lt Gen Andrzej Blasik: "There are 16 airworthy F-16s. That means its availability rate is much better than it was in case of implementing [Sukhoi] Su-22s or [RSK] MiG-29s. We would be able to get a better rate, but there is a lack of spares."
Source: Flight International
