Poland has officially signed a contract covering the $4.6 billion purchase of 32 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II combat aircraft. The procurement is being made under Poland’s Harpia program, which is intended to modernize the country’s fighter fleet by replacing legacy Warsaw Pact-era combat aircraft with a modern NATO-sourced solution.
#Poland and the #US have finalized an agreement on the purchase of 32, next generation F-35 fighter aircraft.
Our enhanced #military strength will help to defend not only Poland, but the entire eastern flank of #NATO.
— Embassy of Poland US (@PolishEmbassyUS) January 31, 2020
The Harpia program forms a key part of Poland’s larger Technical Modernization Plan 2017-2026.
Poland’s Air Force currently operates a mixed fighter fleet of 48 Lockheed Martin F-16C/Ds and older Soviet-designed aircraft, including more than 20 MiG-29 Fulcrum interdiction fighters and over 20 Su-22 Fitters used for air-to-ground missions. The latter pair of fighters have been of pressing concern to Poland’s defense officials for years, for both age and safety concerns as well as a desire to sever outdated links with Russian-sourced hardware and technologies.
Three MiG-29s crashed between December 2017 and March 2019, resulting in the temporary grounding of the entire fleet and prompting the Defense Ministry to bring the Harpia program forward.
Under the Harpia program, 32 new-generation multirole jet fighters will be acquired to equip two Polish Air Force squadrons.
Deliveries of the F-35s are to begin in 2024 with handover of the first four units. These, however, will not be based in Poland but at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, where they will be used to train Polish pilots. The first F-35 squadron will become operational by 2026, with the second squadron reaching operational status in 2030.
Polish Air Force will operate 32 @thef35 aircraft pic.twitter.com/TOg3oUX7Yo
— Poland MOD 🇵🇱 (@Poland_MOD) January 31, 2020
The Polish F-35 contract does not involve any industrial offset agreements.
Dan Darling is Forecast International’s director of military and defense markets. In this role, Dan oversees a team of analysts tasked with covering everything from budgeting to weapons systems to defense electronics and military aerospace. Additionally, for over 17 years Dan has, at various times, authored the International Military Markets reports for Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
Dan's work has been cited in Defense News, Real Clear Defense, Asian Military Review, Al Jazeera, and Financial Express, among others, and he has also contributed commentary to The Diplomat, The National Interest and World Politics Review. He has been quoted in Arabian Business, the Financial Times, Flight International, The New York Times, Bloomberg and National Defense Magazine.
In addition, Dan has made guest appearances on the online radio show Midrats and on The Media Line, as well as The Red Line Podcast, plus media appearances on France 24 and World Is One News (WION).
