22nd Air Base

File:Raid by the 8th Air Force.jpg on October 9, 1943.{{Citation |last=Coffey |first=Thomas M. |year=1977 |title=Decision over Schweinfurt: The U.S. 8th Air Force Battle for Daylight Bombing |location=New York |publisher=David McKay Company |pages=280, 465 |quote=The Germans were caught by surprise at Marienburg … which was so far east they didn't realize it had to be defended … Only one building of the factory [was] not destroyed}} on October 9, 1943. (p. 465){{Rp|280}}]]

File:1 i 41 Eskadra Lotnictwa Taktycznego w 22 BLot (47).jpg

Part of the German Reich from 1871 to 1945, a civilian airfield was established in 1929 at Königsdorf near Marienburg - as it was known then. It was acquired by the Luftwaffe in 1934.{{cite web |title=Historia - Ryszard Rząd |url=http://www.visitmalbork.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=292&Itemid=10 |access-date=2009-12-24 |language=Polish |archive-date=2012-03-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301165312/http://www.visitmalbork.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=292&Itemid=10 |url-status=live }} Near the airfield was a {{convert|100|acre|km2|adj=on}} Focke-Wulf aircraft production plant that had been moved from Bremen{{citation|title=AAFRH-10 |page=21 (page 27 in pdf) |url=http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090522-047.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902091906/http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090522-047.pdf |archive-date=2012-09-02 }} and which produced approximately half of all Focke-Wulf Fw 190s,

{{Citation |last=Gurney |first=Gene |year=1962 |title=The War in the Air: a pictorial history of World War II Air Forces in combat |location=New York |publisher=Bonanza Books

|page=219}} and the Stalag XX-B prisoner-of-war camp was nearby.{{cite web|url=http://www.gps-practice-and-fun.com/stalag-20b.html |title=Stalag 20B Marienburg on the map |access-date=2009-12-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924100046/http://www.gps-practice-and-fun.com/stalag-20b.html |archive-date=2009-09-24 }} A United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force air raid on the "industrial area in Marienburg" on October 9, 1943, by 96 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses{{cite web|last=McKillop |first=Jack |title=Combat Chronology of the USAAF |url=http://www.usaaf.net/chron/43/oct43.htm |access-date=2007-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531191604/http://www.usaaf.net/chron/43/oct43.htm |archive-date=2012-05-31 }} was called the Marienburg raid by Life magazine.{{cite magazine |date=November 8, 1943 |title=U.S. Bombing: Arnold calls the Marienburg raid the best example of precision bombing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A1cEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA119 |format=pdf |magazine=Life |page=119 |access-date=2009-12-24}} The plant was attacked a second time by 98 B-17s on April 9, 1944.

Post-war, now part of Poland, Marienburg became Malbork and Soviet Air Forces units were based there{{Specify|at the 1929 airfield?|date=December 2008}} for a few years.{{When|date=December 2008}} In 1952 41st Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Air Force of the Polish Army was formed to be based there, initially equipped with Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighters, later replaced with Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17s, and from 1964 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s.[http://www.41elt.pl/historia.php 41st Air Tactical Squadron official page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112121907/http://www.41elt.pl/historia.php |date=2010-01-12 }} In 2001 the regiment was dissolved and its ground and air components separated, to form the 22 Air Base{{Clarify|So the name 22 Air Base is both an installation and a unit? The US calls the unit an "Air Base Wing", while the installation is an "Air Force Base".|date=December 2008}} and 41st Air Tactical Squadron respectively. In 2003 the last MiG-21s were retired, and in 2004 the squadron was rearmed with refurbished former East German Air Force MiG-29s obtained from the Luftwaffe.

The base was used by French Air Force aircraft deployed in May 2014 as part of NATO's response to the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Initially, Dassault Rafale aircraft were deployed, though on 2 June 2014, four Dassault Mirage 2000 fighters from EC 1/2 and EC 2/5 relieved the Rafales.{{cite journal|title=France Replaces Rafales with Mirages on Polish Det|journal=Air Forces Monthly|issue=317|date=August 2014|page=11}} General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters from the Royal Netherlands Air Force and then from the Belgian Air Component stationed in Malbork until August 2015 when Baltic Air Policing activities were reduced from three to two bases.{{Cite web |url=http://airheadsfly.com/2015/08/06/natos-baltic-air-policing-down-to-eight-aircraft/ |title=NATO's Baltic Air Policing down to eight aircraft. |access-date=2015-08-13 |archive-date=2015-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809071417/http://airheadsfly.com/2015/08/06/natos-baltic-air-policing-down-to-eight-aircraft/ |url-status=live }}

On 6 July 2018, a MiG-29 crashed near Pasłęk, with its pilot dying in an ejection attempt. Technical issues are suspected to have played a role in the crash.

On 1 August 2022, the Italian Air Force stationed on site four Eurofighter Typhoon fighters for their first Baltic Air Policing mission in Poland.{{cite web |url=https://www.aviation-report.com/task-force-air-white-eagle-eurofighter-italiani-operativi-in-polonia-a-difesa-fianco-est-nato/ |title=Task Force Air White Eagle: gli Eurofighter italiani operativi in Polonia a difesa del fianco est della NATO |publisher=Aviation Report |date=2 August 2022}}

On 3-14 February 2023, Dutch F-35 fighters stationed at the 22nd Air Base were scrambled to identify and intercept three Russian aircraft operating near Polish airspace. The Dutch F-35s escorted the formation from a distance and handed over the escort to NATO partners.

During April and May 2025, Operation Chessman took place as part of NATO's Air Policing by Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons as part of No. 140 Expeditionary Air Wing.{{cite book|title=Air Forces Monthly|year=May 2025|publisher=Key Publishing Ltd|location=Stamford, Lincolnshire, England|pages=9}}

{{For|the FMPU film which includes footage of the Marienburg raid in 1943|Target for Today}}

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{{ external media

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| image1 = [https://books.google.com/books?id=WCm7Lh5UbjUC&pg=PA696 strike and recon images]

| image2 =[http://galeria.geoportal.edu.pl/details.php?image_id=272 Before 1943 bombing]

| image3 =[http://galeria.geoportal.edu.pl/details.php?image_id=271 After 1943 bombing]

| image4 = [http://www.targeta.co.uk/malbork_2009.htm 2009 photo gallery]

}}

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Category:Airports in Poland

Category:Polish Air Force bases

Category:Malbork

Category:Buildings and structures in Pomeranian Voivodeship

Category:Former Soviet military air bases in Poland

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