Poland has officially welcomed its first three F-35A “Husarz” stealth fighters, marking a historic milestone in the modernization of its Air Force and NATO’s eastern flank.
According to Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-35 Lightning II, the ceremony brought together senior Polish government and military officials, U.S. and allied representatives, and industry partners to mark this historic milestone and celebrate Poland’s growing role in strengthening allied defense cooperation.
“The arrival of the first F-35 combat aircraft in Poland represents an important milestone for the nation’s defense and for regional security across Europe,” said OJ Sanchez, President, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. “Poland continues to demonstrate strong leadership within NATO through its commitment to modernization and interoperability with allied forces. This milestone reinforces our enduring partnership, and we remain committed to standing alongside Polish forces as they expand and fully operationalize the F-35’s 5th Generation capability.”
The F-35 Husarz fleet will enhance Poland’s ability to operate seamlessly with allied forces while strengthening NATO’s defense posture on its eastern flank, Lockheed Martin said in a Press Release.
The aircraft bearing serial numbers 3509, 3510, and 3511 were reportedly transported from the Fort Worth assembly facility in Texas to their home location in central Poland via the Azores, with assistance from a US Air Force (USAF) KC-46A Pegasus tanker.
With this, Poland has become the first country on NATO’s Eastern Flank to operate the F-35 stealth jets.
Earlier on May 23, EurAsian Times had reported this historic development.
“#F35PL already in Poland! We are joining the group of countries with 5th-generation fighters. F-35s feature “stealth” capabilities, which are a key element enabling effective mission execution in the event of a conflict with an adversary possessing advanced anti-access systems,” it said on X.
Witajcie w Polsce! 🇵🇱
Trzy F-35 wspólnie na niebie z naszymi F-16… pic.twitter.com/5U4l9IaZmI— Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (@KosiniakKamysz) May 22, 2026
The Polish Minister of National Defense, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, published a video of three jets in the air, escorted by Polish F-16s. He emphasized the political and symbolic significance of the arrival, saying that Poland is entering “a new era” of air capability, and asserted that the aircraft’s arrival represented years of investment in infrastructure, training, operational readiness, and equipment.
The delivery of the first batch comes two years after the first Polish F-35A was formally unveiled in August 2025, and later deployed to Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas, where Polish pilots were trained to fly the jets.
From MiG-29 To F-35
The Polish Air Force previously operated the Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter, which was officially retired in a farewell ceremony held at Mirosławiec Air Base in September 2025 due to difficulties maintaining the aging airframe. These aircraft, which remained in service for about four decades, are currently being replaced by the FA-50 light-attack aircraft that Warsaw purchased from South Korea in a 2022 deal.
The Su-22 was the last major Soviet-designed strike or attack aircraft in NATO service.
In addition, Poland previously operated the iconic MiG-21, which was retired in the early 2000s. Meanwhile, the MiG-23 and the Su-7 were retired decades ago, in the 1990s.
Poland still operates a small number of MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters, acquired from the Czech Republic and Germany in the 1990s. These aging Soviet-era jets have remained in service longer than expected, even after the arrival of American F-16C/D Fighting Falcons.
However, Poland has long been eager to phase out its Soviet-era jets. This was clearly demonstrated in 2023 when it swiftly donated around 14 MiG-29s to Ukraine, while deliberately withholding its newer F-16s despite Kyiv’s repeated requests. The Polish Air Force currently maintains a small fleet of 10–14 MiG-29s on paper. As of January 2026, Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski confirmed that at least nine of these have already been cleared for transfer to Ukraine.
The Polish MiG-29s have reached fag end of their lifespan. These aging jets require expensive spare parts, making the maintenance rather challenging. The international sanctions on Russia after the 2014 annexation of Crimea have made spares scarce and more expensive.
By late 2018, Poland had intensified efforts to replace its aging MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-22 Fitter fleets with modern Western aircraft. This search for a more capable 5th-generation fighter ultimately led Warsaw to select the F-35A Lightning II. The United States formally approved the sale in 2019.
In 2020, Poland finalized a $4.6 billion contract to purchase 32 F-35A Lightning II aircraft to modernize its air force and strengthen its defenses against potential threats such as Russia. Less than two years later, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the decision proved visionary.
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