http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #364 JULY 2018 // 41
he Wojska Lądowe’s (Polish Army’s)
history of helicopter units dates back
to the 1960s. The service’s first rotary-
wing assets were assigned to the 56 and 49
Pułk Śmigłowców (56th and 49th Helicopter
Regiments, subsequently renamed pułk
śmigłowców bojowych, combat helicopter
regiments) at Inowrocław-Latkowo and Pruszcz
Gdański respectively. Both were equipped
with licence-built Mi-2s. In the early 1970s,
they were joined by the 37 Pułk Śmigłowców
Transportowych (37 pśtr, 37th Transport
Helicopter Regiment), equipped with Mi-8s, and
based at Leźnica Wielka. All three units later
introduced the Mi-24 (Leźnica was the first to
receive the Mi-24D, followed by Pruszcz, while
Inowrocław took Mi-24Ws in the mid-1980s).
In the mid-1990s, the 37 pśtr became part
of the newly created 25 Brygada Kawalerii
Powietrznej (25 BKPow, 25th Air Cavalry
Brigade), after earlier plans to create a
division-strength unit of 150 helicopters were
dropped. Following several organisational
changes, the brigade acquired its present
structure: 1 Dywizjon Lotniczy (1 DLot, 1st
Air Squadron, the former 37 pśtr) equipped
with the Mi-8 and Mi-17, 7 DLot operating
W-3s from Nowy Glinnik and the Powietrzna
Jednostka Ewakuacji Medycznej (PJEM,
Aerial Medical Evacuation Unit), which flies
the W-3 and Mi-17, also from Nowy Glinnik.
The combat helicopter units – still flying the
Mi-24 – replaced their regiments with a base
structure in 2011. The 49 Baza Lotnicza
(BLot, air base) at Pruszcz Gdański and the
56 BLot at Inowrocław fall under the common
leadership of 1 Brygada Lotnictwa Wojsk
Lądowych (1 BLWL, 1st Army Aviation Brigade).Mission spectrum
Primarily, 25 BKPow and 1 BLWL are tasked
to support troops fighting on the ground,
transporting them and their equipment. The
25 BKPow has a principal assault role, whileThis year, Poland marks a
centenary of military aviation.
The air force and naval aviation
elements will be commemorating
the occasion, along with their
‘green’ compatriots serving with
the Lotnictwa Wojsk Lądowych- Polish Army Aviation. Bartek
Bera and Filip Modrzejewski
assess its strength.
T
Above: Canadian troops disembark from Mi-8T 654. The Canadian Maple Detachment has been
permanently deployed in Poland since 2014 and has conducted dozens of exercises with the 25 BKPow.
Bartek Bera Below: Four Mi-2s from the 49 BLot in the turn over the Vistula Spit near the Russian border.
The formation is led by Mi-2Ch 6006 with its smoke installation removed. Bartek Bera
Below: Mi-24W 741 from the 56 BLot carries
PTB-450 external fuel tanks and 23mm cannon
pods on its stub wings. Bartek Bera