Poland Takes Delivery of Another F-35A, Raising the In-Country Total to 10
Poland took delivery of its tenth F-35A Husarz on 27 October 2026, bringing the number of F-35As in the country to 10. Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced that the aircraft had landed at the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Łask. Warsaw ordered 32 jets from the United States, so roughly a third of the order is now on Polish soil.
Last updated: 29 October 2026
Order, delivery and in-country numbers are different figures
Ordered: Poland signed for 32 F-35As on 31 January 2020. Defence24 puts the value at $4.6 billion, including training and logistics packages. In Poland: 10 aircraft. Still in the US: Defence24 says some Polish jets remain in the United States for personnel training. Milmag goes further and says AZ-01 to AZ-08 are at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas, training-bound until Q3 2027; that figure comes from a single source.
Dividing the package by 32 would not give a unit price, because the $4.6 billion also covers training and logistics.
How the deliveries unfolded
- 22 May 2026: the first three jets landed at Łask.
- 28 August 2026: five more arrived.
- 1 October 2026: the ninth jet, the first Polish F-35A assembled at the Cameri line in Italy.
- 27 October 2026: the tenth jet.
According to Milmag, the tenth jet is serial AZ-18, tail number 3518, first flown on 15 September 2026 and the second Polish aircraft built at Cameri. Milmag also reports that the 11th Air Squadron at Łask formally entered service on 12 June 2026 after the base was certified on 10 March. Italian-built jets are expected to equip a second squadron at the 21st Tactical Air Base in Świdwin.
Sources disagree on the interim schedule
Both Milmag and eZdunska put the end of deliveries in 2029. The interim targets differ: Milmag expects 14 jets in Poland by the end of 2026 and 12 more in 2027, while eZdunska says ten more by year-end, taking Łask to about 20, followed by eight in 2027. We found no official schedule, so the interim numbers should be read with caution.
What the F-35A is
The F-35A is Lockheed Martin’s single-engine, single-seat, low-observable multirole fighter. It combines air defence, reconnaissance, electronic warfare and ground attack in one airframe. The manufacturer’s brochure lists a top speed of Mach 1.6 and a range above 1,200 nautical miles on internal fuel for the US Air Force profile. Defence24 says Poland will use its jets for air defence, reconnaissance, electronic warfare and strikes on ground targets.
The jets sit alongside Poland’s F-16s. Envanter Medya has covered the country’s F-16 pilot shortage, and on the industrial side PZL Mielec’s work on F-35 wiring harnesses gives Poland a share in the programme.
The Turkish angle: out of the F-35, building KAAN
Washington began removing Türkiye from the F-35 programme in July 2019 over its purchase of the Russian S-400; formal notification followed in April 2021, according to press reports. Ankara’s answer in this class is the KAAN. The table compares the two programmes’ current status using sourced facts only; it is not a performance comparison.
| Criterion | F-35A (Poland) | KAAN (Türkiye) |
|---|---|---|
| Status | 10 jets in Poland, squadron in service | First prototype flew February 2024; first batch of 20 Block-10 contracted at SAHA in May 2026 |
| Deliveries | Schedule runs to 2029 | Target of 20 jets to the Turkish Air Force between 2028 and 2030, per SSB head Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün |
| Engine | Pratt & Whitney F135 (US) | GE F110 on prototypes; domestic TF35000 targeted for 2032 |
| Exports | US government FMS channel | 48 jets agreed with Indonesia in 2025; full terms not made public |
The KAAN contract was signed between the SSB and TUSAŞ. In the Indonesia deal, TUSAŞ announced deliveries spread over 120 months and production and engineering sharing with two Indonesian firms; no official value was published, and quoted figures are press estimates. The American-origin F110 engine is a dependency the early KAAN batches carry until the indigenous engine is ready.
Frequently asked questions
How many F-35s does Poland have?
As of 27 October 2026, ten F-35As are in Poland out of 32 ordered.
How much did Poland pay for its F-35s?
Defence24 reports $4.6 billion for the 32-jet contract signed on 31 January 2020, including training and logistics.
Where will Poland base its F-35s?
The first squadron is at Łask. Milmag says Italian-built jets will go to Świdwin.
Can Türkiye buy the F-35?
Press reports say the US administration has reiterated its opposition to Türkiye rejoining the programme while it keeps the S-400.
Sources
- Defence24: https://defence24.com/armed-forces/the-tenth-hussar-has-arrived-in-poland-another-f-35-for-the-lask-base
- Milmag: https://milmag.pl/en/tenth-f-35a-husarz-arrives-in-poland/
- eZdunska.pl: https://ezdunska.pl/wiadomosci/dziesiaty-f-35-juz-w-bazie-w-lasku-nastepne-beda-ladowac-do-konca-roku/DGPcTliq0aS0xtAE7kOB
- Lockheed Martin, F-35 variants: https://view.ceros.com/lockheed-martin/f-35-variants
- Breaking Defense on KAAN: https://breakingdefense.com/2026/05/turkish-air-force-contracts-its-first-batch-of-indigenous-kaan-jets/
- Hürriyet Daily News on KAAN-Indonesia: https://hurriyetdailynews.com/tusas-signs-kaan-export-deal-with-indonesia-211839
- Axios, Türkiye removed from F-35 (2019): https://www.axios.com/2019/07/17/turkey-f-35-russian-s-400-nato-us-trump-missiles
