A Polish F-35 on display in August 2024, with its official “Husarz” designation written on stage. The name honors the Polish “winged hussars” heavy cavalry unit of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. (Polish Press Agency/Radek Pietruszka)
Poland Now Has Another F-35 Fighter Jet—This Time from Italy
Sixteen of Poland’s 32 planned F-35 “Husarz” aircraft will be built in Milan, Italy, rather than Texas; the first of that group arrived this week.
NATO member Poland currently operates nine F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation stealth fighters from the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Łask, with an additional eight stationed in the United States at the Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where they are used for pilot and maintainer training.
The first three stealth fighters—designated the F-35PL Husarz (Hussar)—arrived at the Polish Air Force base in May 2026, followed by a second batch of five in late August. The most recent aircraft arrived this week, but was unique in that, unlike the first eight, it didn’t have to make a flight across the Atlantic Ocean first.
The First Polish F-35 from the Italian FACO
Although the initial eight Husarz jet fighters now stationed at the 32nd Tactical Air Base were produced at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Worth, Texas, the ninth aircraft had to make a comparatively short flight from the Italian F-35 Final Assembly and Check-Out (FACO) in Cameri, outside of Milan.
“Our base in Łask has received the ninth F-35. This is the first aircraft from the Italian production line. Deliveries of modern ‘Husarz’ aircraft are a key element in building the capabilities of our air force. Fifth-generation aircraft significantly enhance reconnaissance, strike, and cooperation capabilities with NATO allies. Deliveries are proceeding according to plan,” Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote in a post on X, sharing a video of the aircraft arriving at the facility.
“5th-generation aircraft significantly enhance reconnaissance, strike, and cooperation capabilities with NATO allies. Deliveries are proceeding according to plan,” Kosiniak-Kamysz added.
Production of the remaining fighters is scheduled to run through to 2030.
The FACO facility is owned by the Italian Ministry of Defense and is operated by Leonardo in conjunction with Lockheed Martin. Since the facility became operational in 2017, it has produced the final batches of the Italian Air Force’s F-35s; next it will oversee the production of an additional 29 F-35s for the Netherlands, and half of Poland’s order of 32 Husarz fighters. Twenty-four of Switzerland’s F-35s will also be manufactured or completed at Cameri.
Beyond final assembly, the facility is regularly utilized for component exports. It has manufactured more than 800 full F-35A wing sets—roughly one-third of global F-35 wings—to support the international program.
The F-35A Lightning II’s Specifications
- Year Introduced: 2016 (F-35A)
- Number Built: ~750
- Length: 51.4 ft (15.7 m)
- Height: 14.4 ft (3.38 m)
- Wingspan: 35 ft (10.7m)
- Maximum takeoff weight: 70,000 lb (31,800 kg)
- Engines: One Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 turbofan with 40,000 lb thrust
- Top Speed: Mach 1.6 (~1,200 mph, 1,930 km/h)
- Range: 1,350+ mi (1,200 nmi, 2,170 km) with internal fuel
- Service Ceiling: 50,000+ ft (15,240 m)
- Loadout: Internal 25 mm GAU-22/A cannon, two AIM-120 AMRAAMs, and two GBU-31 JDAMs
- Aircrew: 1
Poland’s Fighter Jets Honor the Winged Hussars
Warsaw’s program of record initially called for 32 of the fifth-generation stealth fighters, but Poland is expected to place a follow-on buy for an additional 32. However, as of this month, no contract has yet been signed, and the Ministry of National Defence (MND) has not disclosed where these additional aircraft might be built—although it would seem that the Italian FACO would be the likely location.
The US Department of State approved the sale of the fifth-generation fighters to Poland in September 2019, with the aircraft replacing the country’s aging fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-22 Fitter aircraft. Many of those aircraft have been donated to Ukraine throughout the ongoing war, as Ukraine’s pre-war air force consisted mostly of Soviet aircraft and many Ukrainian pilots have been trained on them. (The transfers hit a snag this summer after a diplomatic spat between Ukraine and Poland concerning differing historical recollections of World War II.)
In 2024, Warsaw officially redesignated the F-35 as the “Husarz” to honor Poland’s famed Winged Hussars cavalry of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Husarz were considered to be among the finest cavalry units of the 16th and 17th centuries during the era of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The elite unit, which was originally formed in 1503 with many of its members coming from the Polish nobility, took part in numerous engagements and helped Poland and its allies win more than 16 major battles during the Commonwealth’s “Golden Age,” which saw conflicts with Ottoman and Russian forces. Their most famous engagement was at the Siege of Vienna from July to September 1683, when they helped defeat the Ottoman forces and broke the siege of the Austrian capital.
The Winged Hussars—so-called because they donned uniforms that included a pair of wings that arched from the end of the saddles to over their heads and fluttered in the wind—incorporated military influences from Russia, the Byzantine Empire, and the Mongol cavalry initially, and later from the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire. The name is both iconic and ironic, given that the F-35 was designed to have a low radar signature—whereas the Winged Hussars were impossible not to spot on the battlefield!
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines, and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author at Editor@nationalinterest.org.
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