On Friday, April 3, 2026, the Ministry of National Defence announced on social media that at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the fourth group of Air Force pilots training on the Lockheed Martin F-35A Husarz fifth-generation multirole aircraft had begun the flight phase of training.
Photos: Ministry of National Defence
“Easter is just around the corner, and things are buzzing at Ebbing.
A fresh batch of photos has arrived from Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas, where the flight phase has just begun for the fourth group of Polish pilots undergoing conversion training on the F-35A. Earlier, they spent several months training on simulators at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. Now it is time for real flights.
So far, six Polish pilots have already completed training, including four at instructor level. All eight aircraft designated for training in the United States have been delivered to Ebbing. In total, 24 pilots and 90 ground personnel will be trained overseas.
The best Easter egg? The first Polish F-35 Husarz aircraft will arrive in Poland very soon, and ultimately the Air Force will receive 32 aircraft.”
Polish Ministry of National Defence
The first two Polish F-35 Husarz aircraft, with manufacturer serial numbers AZ-09 and AZ-10 and tactical numbers 3509 and 3510, will be transferred at the end of May this year to the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Łask, which on March 10 this year was certified to receive fifth-generation multirole aircraft following the completion, at the end of last year, of an infrastructure modernization program that had been underway since 2022.
This was announced on March 21 this year by the Deputy General Commander of the Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. pilot Ireneusz Nowak, on Polskie Radio 24. He specified that an official ceremony presenting the Polish Air Force’s newest acquisition, with considerable pomp, will take place in early June. The first aircraft will be operated by the 11th Air Squadron, and the first four instructor pilots are already in Poland (out of six trained). Two more aircraft (AZ-11 and AZ-12) are expected to arrive in the country no earlier than July.
At present, the first eight aircraft (AZ-01 through AZ-08) are stationed at the aforementioned Ebbing Air National Guard Base, where they are being used to train a total of 24 pilots and 92 technical personnel, in accordance with the contract. Quite recently, on February 10 this year, the aircraft surpassed 1,000 flight hours. They will remain in the United States until the third quarter of 2027, when training is scheduled to end, after which they will be redeployed to Poland.
It should be recalled that on January 31, 2020, the Ministry of National Defence ordered a total of 32 F-35A Block 4 fifth-generation multirole aircraft in the conventional-takeoff-and-landing version for 4.6 billion USD (17.9 billion PLN). Half of the aircraft for Poland are being produced at Lockheed Martin’s FACO facility in Fort Worth, Texas, and the other half at Leonardo’s FACO facility in Cameri, Italy. Deliveries are scheduled to be completed by 2028.
🐣 Wielkanoc tuż-tuż, a w Ebbing praca wre!
Świeża paczka zdjęć z bazy Ebbing w Arkansas, gdzie właśnie ruszyła faza lotów 4. grupy polskich pilotów przechodzących konwersję na F-35A. Wcześniej przez kilka miesięcy ćwiczyli na symulatorach w bazie Eglin na Florydzie – teraz… pic.twitter.com/KIx0zKpIs9
— Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej 🇵🇱 (@MON_GOV_PL) April 3, 2026