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F-35
Lockheed Martin has rolled out the initial F-35 Joint Strike Fighter for Poland, the first of several former Warsaw Pact nations to buy the aircraft.
Poland’s first aircraft, AZ-01, was rolled out in front of Polish politicians and senior air force figures at the company’s Fort Worth facility on Aug. 28, as Poland marked its national aviation day and 106 years of the Polish Air Force.
AZ-01 is the first of 32 F-35As ordered by Warsaw in January 2020 to equip two frontline squadrons. Rather than adopt the name Lightning II, Poland will call its aircraft Husarz following a public naming contest earlier this year.
“Over more than 100 years of the Polish Air Force, there have been many generations of pilots and aircraft ... I am proud to be part of history today, introducing the F-35 as the next generation, which will protect and defend Poland’s future for many years. We are joining a strong coalition of fifth-generation fighters across Europe, bolstering air superiority through allied deterrence,” said Maj. Gen. Ireneusz Nowak, the Polish Air Force’s chief, who was present at the rollout.
Polish Air Force pilots will soon begin training on F-35s at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas. Poland is the first F-35 customer to perform its pilots’ training at the base now that Luke AFB, Arizona, is at capacity.
Aircraft deliveries into Poland will occur in 2026, when the F-35s will be based at Lask and later Swidwin from 2027. Pilot training in the U.S. will use eight Polish aircraft, which will remain in Arkansas until 2027.
Poland is the first former Warsaw Pact country to acquire the F-35. The Czech Republic has since joined Poland, buying 24 of the aircraft, with deliveries planned for 2031. Romania has also outlined plans to purchase the F-35.
Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said Poland was “the only country in the world that shares borders with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.”
“To protect that border, we need the best equipment, the best opportunities,” Tomczyk says.
The F-35’s arrival will allow Poland to steadily rid itself of Soviet-era combat aircraft, including the Mikoyan MiG-29 and the Sukhoi Su-22. The F-35 will join the Poland Air Force’s fleet of Block 50 model F-16s and Korea Aerospace Industries FA-50 light combat aircraft.
The service sees the F-35 fleet as a silver bullet force that can penetrate the anti-access area denial (A2AD) bubbles that would inevitably be established around Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave and neighboring Belarus. Those bubbles would impede air operations at Poland’s borders in the event of a conflict.
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