First F-35A Husarz flight by a Polish pilot
February 5, 2025
On Friday 31 January, at around 10 pm Polish time, a Polish pilot flew the Husarz for the first time, according to Major General Pilot Ireneusz Nowak, Air Force Inspector at the Polish Air Force General Command. “This landmark opens a new chapter in the process of modernization of the Polish Air Force,” Poland’s defense ministry commented. In accordance with normal operating procedures, an American instructor flew chase in another F-35A to check the manoeuvres performed.
The Polish pilot was one of four aircrew being trained at Ebbing Air National Guard base, two of whom are still undergoing the simulator phase. The training programme began in the final week of January, with the first F-35 sortie by a Polish pilot taking place on the last day of the month. The quartet should be fully trained F-35 combat pilots by April, but two of them will stay at Ebbing for a little longer in order to complete the instructor course.
Poland’s F-35 acquisition began in 2019 when Poland formally requested to buy 32 F-35A aircraft. The US Department of Defense Security Co-operation Agency announced that Poland had been cleared to purchase them, at an estimated cost of US $6.5 billion, on 11 September 2019, and Congress approved the sale on 27 September.
The US $4.6 billion contract was officially signed on 31 January 2020, during a ceremony in Dęblin, Poland. This was attended by high-level officials including the Polish President, Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and the US ambassador to Poland. Poland’s F-35 purchase includes 32 F-35As, ground support equipment, one spare Pratt & Whitney F135 engine, and a full logistics and training package, as well as a computer-based operational management ICT system, maintenance equipment, spare parts, and even flying clothing and pilots’ equipment. The training package includes eight full mission simulators, and training in US centres for 24 Polish pilots and about 90 technical personnel.
Production of the first Polish F-35 Husarz began at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Marietta, Georgia, in April 2023, and the first aircraft was unveiled during a rollout ceremony at Fort Worth on 28 August 2024. The first six (or eight according to some sources) aircraft are due to remain in the US for training purposes.
The first pair of Polish F-35As arrived at Fort Smith’s Ebbing Air National Guard Base on 23 December 2024. The US Air Force (USAF) selected Ebbing ANGB to host F-35 FMS pilot training in 2023, supplementing an existing F-35 FMS training detachment at Hill AFB in Utah. Environmental regulations limited the number of F-35s based at Hill to just 24 aircraft, but 12 more are now based at of Ebbing. This will increase the capacity of the FMS pilot training programme by 50%.
Ebbing will serve as a centre for training Polish, Finnish, German, Singaporean and Swiss F-35A pilots.
Deliveries to Poland will begin in 2026, and will continue through to 2030, in batches of four to six per year. The new F-35As will be stationed at the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Łask and the 21st Tactical Air Base in Świdwin. The first Polish Husarz squadron is expected to achieve initial operational capability by 2026.
Two Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35As arrived in Poland in December, and were temporarily stationed at Krzesiny air base as part of NATO’s air policing mission along the alliance’s eastern frontier. This gave Polish personnel an up-close look at their new mount.
Lieutenant Colonel Michal Zloch told Polish magazine Polska Zbrojna that: “The key issue will be the integration of the F-35 and F-16. The preparation of pilots of both types of machines so that they can co-operate with each other as effectively as possible, and training with the Norwegians is helpful in this.”
The Norwegian F-35As were scrambled from Krzesiny in January in response to a “massive number of Russian aircraft” that approached Polish airspace, though the package changed course before intruding into NATO airspace.
At the end of January, the Polish Ministry of National Defence signed a US $745 million agreement to acquire more than 200 AGM-88G AARGM-ER anti-radiation missiles for the Polish F-35As.
This F-35 will modernize Poland’s combat air capabilities, enhancing interoperability with other NATO F-35A operators and strengthening its strategic position within NATO, particularly given Poland’s proximity to Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. It reflects a strengthening defence and security partnership with the United States.
