First F-35 for Poland rolls out of Lockheed’s Fort Worth plant

FORT WORTH, Texas — Polish defense leaders got at sneak peek at the country’s first F-35A combat jet on Wednesday during an unveiling ceremony at Lockheed Martin’s manufacturing site here.

Warsaw ordered 32 of the fifth-generation planes more than four years ago. The $4.6 billion deal is a key pillar in a multibillion-dollar modernization program by the NATO member, a former Eastern Bloc nation, to modernize its forces as a hedge against Russian aggression.

The delegation visiting the F-35 manufacturing hub was led by Polish deputy national defense ministers Paweł Bejda and Cezary Tomczyk.

“Poland is the only country in the world that shares borders with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. To keep the borders unchanged, we need the best equipment, the best capability, and the best friends,” Tomczyk said during the ceremony.

Greg Ulmer, president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said Poland’s F-35 acquisition was built on earlier procurements of Lockheed Martin aircraft by the Polish Air Force.

“Our successful collaboration spans multiple aircraft programs, including the C-130 Hercules, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, and now the F-35A Lightning II,” he said.

As further aircraft are expected to leave the plant’s production lines, the jets will be used at the Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, between this year and 2026 as the first trainers for Poland’s pilots.

The first F-35s are scheduled to arrive in Poland in 2026, making the nation the jet’s first user in Eastern Europe, with the Czech Republic and Romania slated to follow suit. The new aircraft will continue to be delivered to the Polish Air Force until 2030 in batches of between four and six units per year, according to the country’s Ministry of National Defence.

The new planes will enable the Polish Air Force to expand its modern combat aircraft capacities, adding the F-35s to its fleet of F-16 C/D Block 52+ jets and FA-50 light attack aircraft.

Last year, Poland donated a number of its Soviet-made Mikoyan MiG-29 jets to Ukraine to support the country’s defense against Russia. The Polish military also operates outdated Sukhoi Su-22 jets, but the last units are expected to be withdrawn from service around 2025.

In the meantime, Lockheed Martin hopes that, with the Polish delivery pipeline now turned on, the company will have a foot in the door for an additional batch of 32 fighters from the Polish government.

Warsaw is mulling plans to buy more jets of a yet undisclosed type, based on its Air Force’s recommendation.

While Lockheed Martin is pitching a second F-35 deal to Poland, the nation’s National Defence Ministry is analyzing whether to acquire a different aircraft type that would provide the military with new air-superiority capabilities.

The Eurofighter Typhoon, an aircraft manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo, and Boeing’s F-15EX also are in the running for a prospective contract.

Under the previous government of the Law and Justice party, Poland was seen as gravitating toward one of the U.S. aircraft types.

“We need at least two more squadrons of multirole aircraft,” Mariusz Błaszczak, an opposition lawmaker for the Law and Justice party and the country’s former defense minister, told Defense News. “This decision must be made at the military level. Various scenarios are being considered, among them, heavy twin-engine F-15EX or more F-35As and F-16s.”

However, in December 2023, the ousted right-wing Cabinet was replaced by a centrist coalition which has been making efforts to strengthen Warsaw’s ties with European partners, including in the field of defense.

While vowing to keep close relations with Washington, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has strived to involve his country in a rising number of Europe-focused military projects. These include the European Sky Shield Initiative, an air defense project, as well as the pan-European program to build a new main battle tank.

In May 2024, OBRUM, a PGZ offshoot specialized in research and development for the country’s land forces, declared it is joining “the game for the European tank of the future.”

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

德克萨斯州沃斯堡——周三，波兰国防领导人在洛克希德·马丁公司位于此地的制造基地举行的揭幕仪式上，先睹为快了该国首架 F-35A 战斗机。

华沙四年前订购了32架第五代战机。这笔价值46亿美元的交易是这个北约成员国（前东欧集团国家）数十亿美元现代化计划的关键支柱，旨在实现军队现代化，以应对俄罗斯的侵略。

率领代表团访问 F-35 制造中心的是波兰国防部副部长帕维尔·贝达和塞扎里·托姆奇克。

“波兰是世界上唯一一个与俄罗斯、乌克兰和白俄罗斯接壤的国家。为了保持边界不变，我们需要最好的装备、最强大的能力和最好的朋友，”托姆奇克在仪式上说道。

洛克希德·马丁公司航空总裁格雷格·乌尔默表示，波兰此次采购 F-35 战斗机是建立在波兰空军此前采购洛克希德·马丁公司飞机的基础上的。

他说：“我们成功的合作涵盖了多个飞机项目，包括 C-130 大力神运输机、F-16 战隼战斗机，以及现在的 F-35A 闪电 II 战斗机。”

随着更多飞机预计将从该工厂的生产线下线，这些喷气式飞机将于今年至 2026 年间在阿肯色州史密斯堡的埃宾空军国民警卫队基地使用，作为波兰飞行员的首批教练机。

首批F-35战机计划于2026年交付波兰，届时波兰将成为东欧首个使用该战机的国家，捷克和罗马尼亚也将随后接收。波兰国防部表示，新型战机将持续交付波兰空军，直至2030年，每年交付4至6架。

新飞机将使波兰空军能够扩展其现代化作战飞机能力，在其现有的 F-16 C/D Block 52+ 喷气式飞机和 FA-50 轻型攻击机机队中加入 F-35 战斗机。

去年，波兰向乌克兰捐赠了一批苏联制造的米格-29战斗机，以支持该国抵御俄罗斯的入侵。波兰军方目前也装备有老旧的苏-22战斗机，但预计最后一批将于2025年左右退役。

与此同时，洛克希德·马丁公司希望，随着波兰交付渠道的开通，该公司能够从波兰政府那里获得另外 32 架战斗机的订单。

根据空军的建议，华沙正在考虑购买更多尚未公开型号的喷气式飞机。

洛克希德·马丁公司正向波兰推销第二笔 F-35 交易，而波兰国防部则在分析是否采购另一种飞机，以赋予军队新的空中优势能力。

由空客、BAE系统公司和莱昂纳多公司组成的联合体制造的欧洲战斗机“台风”以及波音公司的F-15EX战斗机也在竞标这份潜在合同。

在前任法律与公正党政府执政期间，波兰被认为倾向于采用美国的一种飞机类型。

“我们至少还需要两个中队的多用途战机，”反对党法律与公正党议员、前国防部长马里乌什·布瓦什恰克告诉《防务新闻》。“这项决定必须在军方层面做出。目前正在考虑各种方案，其中包括重型双引擎F-15EX，或者更多的F-35A和F-16战机。”

然而，在 2023 年 12 月，被罢黜的右翼内阁被一个中间派联盟取代，该联盟一直在努力加强华沙与欧洲伙伴的关系，包括在国防领域。

波兰总理唐纳德·图斯克在承诺与华盛顿保持密切关系的同时，也致力于让波兰参与越来越多的以欧洲为中心的军事项目。这些项目包括欧洲天空之盾计划（一项防空项目）以及旨在建造新型主战坦克的泛欧计划。

2024 年 5 月，PGZ 旗下专门从事陆军研发的子公司 OBRUM 宣布加入“未来欧洲坦克的竞争”。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。