Fort Worth (Texas): After a year’s worth of headlines dominated by the program’s woes, Lockheed Martin celebrated something of a new chapter for the F-35: the first of the stealth fighters for Poland, rolled out in a grand ceremony at the aerospace giant’s factory here as Polish military representatives, US officials and other dignitaries looked on.
“This aircraft is going to be a great contributor to Polish, and not only Polish, regional safety, [as well as] NATO credibility [and] deterrence,” Maj Gen Ireneusz Nowak, general inspector of the Polish Air Force, said during the ceremony. “So we are going to use it and we are going to achieve our goals.”
Addressing Polish pilots in attendance, Nowak wished them luck, as well as “an equal number of take-offs and landings.” He then added that his hope is that the jet will not need to be used in combat, “so let’s just use it for deterrence.”
The Polish version of the aircraft has been named “Husarz” in reference to Poland’s famous “Winged Hussar” heavy cavalry units that operated from the 16th to the 18th century.
“The Hussars’ renowned speed, precision and tactical innovations on horseback enabled them to defend their homeland,” said Lockheed at the unveiling of the planes. “Polish warriors will soon employ those same qualities with a faster animal: the world’s most advanced stealth fighter jet.”
The F-35 unveiled is the first of 32 for Poland, after Warsaw in 2020 inked a $4.6 billion deal with Washington for the fighters in the conventional take-off and landing configuration. Included in that order are 33 F135 engines made by Pratt & Whitney, as well as training and logistics services. The jets will be delivered a handful at a time over several years from Lockheed’s crowded international production line, and the Polish Ministry of Defence has previously said they should all arrive by 2030.
Warsaw’s F-35 deliveries staying largely on schedule is welcome news for Lockheed and Poland after a year of headaches in Fort Worth. The Pentagon only started accepting fighters equipped with the Technology Refresh 3 upgrade last month, a full year after implementing a delivery freeze due to software issues. TR-3 essentially provides the hardware and software necessary for a suite of new capabilities known as Block 4, and jets outfitted with the upgrade, like the one rolled out today, will be limited to training roles for at least another year as lingering software kinks are worked out.
And Warsaw will waste no time getting started on that training. Polish Air Force officials have already visited Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., to get a feel for F-35 maintenance operations, and Polish pilots within months will inaugurate a new international training hub at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas using their new jets. The first aircraft will then be delivered in-country in the 2026 timeframe, according to Lockheed aeronautics boss Greg Ulmer.
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