On Tuesday, February 10, 2026, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced on social media that eight Polish Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Husarz multirole aircraft stationed at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, have surpassed a combined total of 1,000 flight hours.
Photo: Ebbing Air National Guard Base via Facebook
“Poland’s F-35 aircraft surpassed a combined total of 1,000 flight hours yesterday. Production of the aircraft, training of pilots and maintenance personnel, as well as preparations of infrastructure at the base in Łask, where the first F-35 Husarz aircraft will be stationed later this year, are all progressing according to schedule. The presence of F-35 aircraft in the Polish Armed Forces increases our country’s security and strengthens the deterrence and defense capabilities of the entire Alliance,” the head of the Ministry of National Defence wrote on the social media platform X.
It is worth recalling that since January 8 of this year, eight F-35A aircraft (serial numbers 3501/AZ-01 through 3508/AZ-08) have been stationed at Ebbing Air National Guard Base. They were delivered gradually starting December 23, 2024, to support the training program for Polish Air Force personnel: 24 pilots and 92 maintenance specialists. The first flight by a Polish pilot at the controls of an F-35A Husarz took place on January 31, 2025. The aircraft will remain in the United States until the third quarter of 2027, when training concludes, after which they will be redeployed to Poland.
Meanwhile, on February 5 of this year, it was announced that two additional aircraft, 3509/AZ-09 and 3510/AZ-10, had been transferred to the paint facility at the FACO Fort Worth plant in Texas, operated by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics (a division of Lockheed Martin). There, they will receive several layers of stealth coating as well as national markings. According to the schedule, in May of this year they are to be delivered directly to the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Łask, with two more aircraft scheduled for July (the second squadron will subsequently be completed at the 21st Tactical Air Base in Świdwin).
On January 31, 2020, the Polish Ministry of National Defence ordered a total of 32 fifth-generation multirole aircraft in the conventional takeoff and landing F-35A Block 4 configuration for 4.6 billion USD (17.9 billion PLN). Half of the aircraft for Poland are being produced at the aforementioned FACO Fort Worth facility in Texas, and the other half at FACO Cameri in Italy.
1000 godzin nalotu łącznie przekroczyły wczoraj 🇵🇱samoloty F-35.
Zgodnie z harmonogramem przebiega produkcja samolotów, szkolenie pilotów oraz obsług, a także przygotowanie infrastruktury w bazie w Łasku, gdzie stacjonować będą jeszcze w tym roku pierwsze samoloty F-35 Husarz.… pic.twitter.com/f6rwQCBGEC— Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (@KosiniakKamysz) February 10, 2026