Poland's F-35 Fleet Doubles Overnight as Five More Stealth Fighters Land at Łask Air Base
Poland received five additional F-35A "Husarz" stealth fighters at Łask Air Base on August 28, bringing its total delivered fleet to eight as part of a broader 32-aircraft acquisition program recently doubled to 64 total jets.
Poland's F-35 program just picked up serious momentum, adding five aircraft in a single delivery.
Five additional F-35A Lightning II "Husarz" fighter jets landed at Poland's 32nd Tactical Air Base in Łask on August 28, bringing the total number of F-35s delivered to the country to eight. The arrival was confirmed by Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces, with the aircraft — carrying tail numbers 3512 through 3516 — arriving via a ferry flight that included a refueling stop in the Azores.
The delivery marks a significant jump from where Poland's F-35 program stood just three months earlier. The country received its first three F-35As back in May, making Poland the first NATO member on the alliance's eastern flank to field the fifth-generation stealth aircraft. This latest batch more than doubles that initial number.
The broader program stems from a deal signed back in January 2020, when Poland's Ministry of National Defence agreed to purchase 32 F-35A jets from Lockheed Martin for approximately $4.6 billion — one of the largest defense contracts in Polish history. That original 32-aircraft order has since grown further; Poland announced a follow-on purchase of an additional 32 F-35PLs in June 2026, effectively doubling the country's total planned fleet.
There's a manufacturing transition happening alongside the deliveries, too. All 16 aircraft built so far under the current contract have come from Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth, Texas facility. The remaining 16 jets from this order will instead be assembled at the Cameri final assembly facility near Milan, Italy — a European production site jointly operated by Lockheed Martin and Leonardo, which is expected to shorten the delivery route for the second half of Poland's fleet.
Eight more Polish F-35As currently remain stateside at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas, where they continue supporting pilot training and maintenance instruction for Polish personnel before eventually making the journey to Łask themselves.
The strategic rationale behind the program centers on modernization and NATO interoperability. The F-35As are set to replace Poland's aging fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 and Su-22 aircraft, while adding stealth capability, advanced sensor fusion, and network-centric data-sharing that allow the jets to function as coordination platforms within broader multi-domain NATO operations. Powered by Pratt & Whitney F135 engines producing roughly 40,000 pounds of thrust with afterburner, the aircraft can reach speeds of Mach 1.6 and carry a combat radius exceeding 1,090 kilometers on internal fuel alone.
Deliveries under Poland's original 32-jet order are expected to run through 2030, with the newly announced second batch of 32 additional aircraft extending the program considerably further into the decade. For now, though, this week's arrival of five more Husarz jets marks a concrete, visible step in a modernization effort years in the making.
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