Polish and U.S. pilots reinforce NATO’s eastern front line
At Poland’s 32nd Tactical Air Base in Łask, American and Polish pilots operate side by side along NATO’s eastern frontier. Flight footage provided by the base.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki has renewed his proposal for a permanent U.S. military installation in Poland, known as “Fort Trump,” as Warsaw seeks to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank amid continued Russian violations of allied airspace.
Nawrocki said he was confident Warsaw and Washington would reach an agreement on the base, which Poland wants as part of its effort to secure a long-term American troop presence and improve its defenses against Russia.
“I hope that when work on the base is completed, President Trump will be able to personally attend the inauguration of ‘Fort Trump,’” Nawrocki said in New York on Sept. 22.
Presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian backed by the right-wing Law and Justice party, greets supporters after the presidential election runoff in Warsaw, Poland, on Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
The proposal dates to 2018, when Nawrocki’s predecessor, President Andrzej Duda, suggested naming a permanent U.S. military installation in Poland “Fort Trump” as part of an effort to secure a lasting American military presence.
The renewed push gained urgency within hours of Nawrocki’s remarks in New York, when a Russian Mi-8 military helicopter briefly penetrated Polish airspace from Russia’s Kaliningrad region.
Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski also raised the incident during a briefing with Polish media after addressing the U.N. Security Council in New York on Wednesday.
According to the Polish Army Operational Command, the helicopter entered Polish territory north of the town of Braniewo at 11:08 a.m. and reached a maximum depth of about 300 meters.
The aircraft remained in Polish airspace for 42 seconds before exiting.
Polish radar systems tracked the helicopter throughout the incursion, prompting fighter jets to scramble and ground-based air-defense units to go on alert.
Polish military authorities said the brief violation suggested that Moscow was testing the readiness and response times of NATO air defenses once again.
The incident adds urgency to Poland’s campaign for a permanent U.S. base. Nawrocki acknowledged that no timetable has been set because administrative and financial details remain unresolved.
“It’s hard for me to give specific dates, but I think this matter has been definitively confirmed, because President Trump is known for keeping his word,” Nawrocki said.
“Infrastructure preparation is progressing. In fact, the appropriate infrastructure is already being selected,” he told Bloomberg.
Nawrocki described the base as “only a matter of time” and expressed optimism that construction could be completed before Trump’s term ends in 2029.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Polish President Karol Nawrocki during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)
Deputy Defense Minister Stanisław Wziątek has also discussed establishing the U.S. base, with reports indicating that its precise location remains undecided.
Wziątek said the installation would likely house between 3,000 and 5,000 U.S. troops.
Poland ultimately hopes to host “around 15,000” American service members, building on the roughly 10,000 U.S. troops currently stationed in the country, most of them on rotational deployments.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on Sept. 18 that, according to intelligence available to Warsaw, Russia was planning drone and missile strikes against eastern NATO countries that Moscow could characterize as accidental, The Associated Press reported.
Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, attends the Polish Army Parade in Warsaw on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Russian drones have repeatedly entered NATO airspace and crashed on allied territory, including in Poland and Romania, while NATO countries have scrambled fighter aircraft in response to Russian aerial activity near their borders over the years.
Trump has also signaled progress in strengthening the U.S.-Polish military partnership, describing the proposed base as a “historic step for our Great US/Polish Alliance” and suggesting on Truth Social that further details would be announced.
“Thanks to the bold leadership of my friend, Karol Nawrocki, President of Poland, major progress is being made towards establishing a US Army base in Poland,” Trump said Sept. 17.