Poland to receive five more F-35 fighter jets
Poland will receive a second batch of F-35 fighter jets from US manufacturer Lockheed Martin on Wednesday, bringing its total fleet to eight aircraft.
Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced on social platform X that five new F-35 fighter jets are heading to Poland and will arrive on Wednesday at the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Łask, in the Łódź Voivodeship.
The minister said the arrival of the new aircraft strengthens not only the combat capability of Poland's air force but the entire security system the country is building together with its allies.
With this delivery, Poland's air force will have eight F-35 fighter jets in service. The first three aircraft of this type arrived in the country in the second half of May, also stationed at the Łask base.
A large order
The F-35 is a fifth-generation multirole fighter jet produced by US company Lockheed Martin. Poland ordered 32 of the aircraft for its air force back in 2020.
The newly arriving jets are being sent to the Łask base, which currently also hosts some of Poland's F-16 aircraft. In a later phase, F-35s are planned for deployment at the 21st Tactical Air Base in Świdwin, where recently retired Soviet-era Su-22 aircraft had previously been stationed.
Beyond the F-35 deliveries, Poland continues modernising its air force equipment. In March, Polish company Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze Nr 1 signed a contract with Lockheed Martin for servicing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters in Poland. Separately, on 26 August, Spain's government approved a joint Spanish-Polish procurement of Airbus A330 MRTT aerial refuelling aircraft.
