Flight Radar's air tracker data indicates that on November 27, 2024, the first combat duty of one of the two Saab 340 AEW radar surveillance aircraft, which Poland received from Sweden earlier this year, likely took place.
The tracker data reveals that the Polish Saab 340 AEW's combat patrol route was near the borders with Belarus and the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation, although the duration of the flight remains undisclosed. This is mentioned in a publication on the Defence24 portal.
From Defense Express, we emphasize that the news mentioned above clearly illustrates how much time is actually needed not only to train personnel on the Saab 340 AEW but also to begin performing combat duties with such aircraft.
It is worth recalling the following timeline. At the beginning of August 2024, it became definitively known how much time was required for mastering the Saab 340 AEW in Poland, which Ukraine is also awaiting for its own training. At that moment, it was announced that the training of crews on these aircraft had been completed, indicating that in the case of Poland, training for 8 pilots, 11 technicians, and 9 operators took approximately 7-8 months. The theoretical portion took 2-3 months, while the practical part lasted up to 5 months.
Interestingly, the theoretical part of the training was conducted directly in Sweden, while the practical portion began in the summer of 2024 when Poland received the second of the ordered Saab 340 AEW aircraft.
There are also other important nuances. By the time the training for the Polish Saab 340 AEW personnel was completed, it was announced that these aircraft would achieve initial operational readiness by September 2024.
This implies that nearly 3 months passed between the completion of personnel training and the first combat duty of the Polish Air Force's Saab 340 AEW, and nearly 2 months from the expected timeframe to achieve initial operational readiness.
This leads to the conclusion that for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the timing for the Saab 340 AEW could be similar—meaning not only 7-8 months for personnel training but also approximately 3 months until the first patrol mission.
Previously, we reported that the US Navy sent its E-2C Hawkeye AWACS to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, which is highly relevant for us.