Lockheed Martin to roll out first F-35s for Poland this summer

WARSAW, Poland — Senior Lockheed Martin officials said they expect the first F-35 warplanes for Poland to leave the production plant in Fort Worth, Texas, in the coming months, a time line unaffected by the company’s problems with a major upgrade for the aircraft known as Technology Refresh 3, or TR-3.

The envisioned timing lines up with Polish pilot training, which is slated to begin in the United States later this year.

“The first F-35 planes for Poland are expected to leave the factory this summer,” Gary North, vice president for customer requirements at Lockheed Martin and a former general in charge of U.S. Pacific Air Forces, told Defense News. “Between late 2024 and 2026, these planes will be used at the Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, as the first trainers for Polish pilots.”

The statements are largely in line with the declarations of officials from the Polish Ministry of National Defence. Last month, a spokesperson for the ministry told Defense News the “implementation of the contract for the purchase of 32 F-35 fighters is proceeding in line with the schedule.”

In the United States, Lockheed Martin has struggled to roll out the TR-3 package, which includes software and hardware upgrades designed to improve the computing performance that underpins the next-generation fighter jet’s operations. Last month, chief executive Jim Taiclet told reporters the first F-35s boasting TR-3 capabilities, already overdue for more than a year, won’t be considered combat-ready until 2025 .

In January 2020, Poland signed a deal worth some $4.6 billion under which the nation is to secure 32 fifth-generation jets from the United States. The foreign military sale is to enable the Polish military to replace its outdated Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-22 and Mikoyan MiG-29 jets, adding the F-35s to its fleet of F-16 C/D Block 52+ jets and FA-50 light attack aircraft.

The F-35s are scheduled to arrive to Poland in 2026, making the country the first user of the Lockheed Martin-made fighter in the region, with the Czech Republic and Romania following suit.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——洛克希德·马丁公司高级官员表示，他们预计首批交付波兰的F-35战机将在未来几个月内离开位于德克萨斯州沃斯堡的生产工厂，这一时间表并未受到该公司针对该飞机进行的一项名为“技术更新3”（TR-3）的重大升级所遇到的问题的影响。

预计时间与波兰飞行员培训计划相吻合，该计划将于今年晚些时候在美国开始。

洛克希德·马丁公司客户需求副总裁、前美国太平洋空军司令加里·诺斯告诉《防务新闻》：“波兰的首批F-35战机预计将于今年夏天出厂。从2024年底到2026年，这些战机将在阿肯色州史密斯堡的埃宾空军国民警卫队基地投入使用，作为波兰飞行员的首批教练机。”

这些声明与波兰国防部官员的说法基本一致。上个月，该部一位发言人告诉《防务新闻》，“购买32架F-35战斗机的合同正在按计划执行”。

在美国，洛克希德·马丁公司一直难以推出TR-3升级包，该升级包包含旨在提升下一代战斗机运行所需计算性能的软硬件升级。上个月，首席执行官吉姆·泰克莱特告诉记者，首批搭载TR-3升级包的F-35战斗机（交付时间已逾期一年多）要到2025年才能具备作战能力。

2020年1月，波兰签署了一项价值约46亿美元的协议，根据该协议，波兰将从美国采购32架第五代战斗机。这项对外军售旨在帮助波兰军队替换其老旧的苏-22和米格-29战斗机，在其现有的F-16 C/D Block 52+战斗机和FA-50轻型攻击机机队中增添F-35战斗机。

F-35战斗机计划于2026年交付波兰，届时波兰将成为该地区首个使用洛克希德·马丁公司制造的这款战斗机的国家，捷克共和国和罗马尼亚随后也将拥有该型战斗机。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。