WARSAW, POLAND – Poland will sign a contract for 32 F-35s on Friday, Mariusz Blaszczak – the Polish Minister of Defense – announced on Twitter. The F-35 will replace the old Polish fighter jets from the Cold War – the MiG-29 and Su-22.
Poland will sign the contract on Friday January 31 at 3:00 PM local time in Deblin, Eastern Poland. The deal has a value of 4.6 billion dollar (4.2 billion euro). The first 16 F-35s will be delivered before 2026.
It was no secret that Poland would opt for the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II:
Replacing old Cold War fighter jets
Poland will buy the F-35A variant of the Joint Strike Fighter to replace the outdated MiG-29 and Sukhoi Su-22s, which were in service for the Polish Air Force since the Cold War.
The Polish Air Force still has 20 Su-22 Fitters and 29 MiG-29 Fulcrums in service. In addition, Poland has 48 of the most modern F-16s – the F-16C/D Block 52+.
After the U.S., Poland will be the 14th nation and 10th NATO country to order the F-35A. Countries like Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, and Korea already purchased the F-35A variant.
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