Polish Air Force F-35A Delivered

The Polish Air Force received its first three F-35A Lightning II Husarz fighters on home soil on May 22, 2026, when the aircraft landed at the 32nd Tactical Air Base at Łask after a transatlantic delivery flight from Lockheed Martin's production facility in Fort Worth, Texas, with a stopover at Lajes Air Base in the Azores. The aircraft, bearing serial numbers 3509, 3510, and 3511, were escorted into Polish airspace by two F-16C/D fighters. Eight earlier F-35s (serials 3501–3508) remain at Ebbing Air National Guard Base, Arkansas, for crew training. Poland contracted 32 F-35As in January 2020 to replace its aging MiG-29 and Su-22 fleets; further deliveries continue through 2029. The arrival marks the first basing of a fifth-generation fighter on NATO's eastern flank.