FORT WORTH, Texas — Polish defense leaders got at sneak peek at the country’s first F-35A combat jet on Wednesday during an unveiling ceremony at Lockheed Martin’s manufacturing site here.

Warsaw ordered 32 of the fifth-generation planes more than four years ago. The $4.6 billion deal is a key pillar in a multibillion-dollar modernization program by the NATO member, a former Eastern Bloc nation, to modernize its forces as a hedge against Russian aggression.

The delegation visiting the F-35 manufacturing hub was led by Polish deputy national defense ministers Paweł Bejda and Cezary Tomczyk.

“Poland is the only country in the world that shares borders with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. To keep the borders unchanged, we need the best equipment, the best capability, and the best friends,” Tomczyk said during the ceremony.

Greg Ulmer, president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said Poland’s F-35 acquisition was built on earlier procurements of Lockheed Martin aircraft by the Polish Air Force.

“Our successful collaboration spans multiple aircraft programs, including the C-130 Hercules, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, and now the F-35A Lightning II,” he said.

As further aircraft are expected to leave the plant’s production lines, the jets will be used at the Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, between this year and 2026 as the first trainers for Poland’s pilots.

The first F-35s are scheduled to arrive in Poland in 2026, making the nation the jet’s first user in Eastern Europe, with the Czech Republic and Romania slated to follow suit. The new aircraft will continue to be delivered to the Polish Air Force until 2030 in batches of between four and six units per year, according to the country’s Ministry of National Defence.

The new planes will enable the Polish Air Force to expand its modern combat aircraft capacities, adding the F-35s to its fleet of F-16 C/D Block 52+ jets and FA-50 light attack aircraft.

Last year, Poland donated a number of its Soviet-made Mikoyan MiG-29 jets to Ukraine to support the country’s defense against Russia. The Polish military also operates outdated Sukhoi Su-22 jets, but the last units are expected to be withdrawn from service around 2025.

In the meantime, Lockheed Martin hopes that, with the Polish delivery pipeline now turned on, the company will have a foot in the door for an additional batch of 32 fighters from the Polish government.

Warsaw is mulling plans to buy more jets of a yet undisclosed type, based on its Air Force’s recommendation.

While Lockheed Martin is pitching a second F-35 deal to Poland, the nation’s National Defence Ministry is analyzing whether to acquire a different aircraft type that would provide the military with new air-superiority capabilities.

The Eurofighter Typhoon, an aircraft manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo, and Boeing’s F-15EX also are in the running for a prospective contract.

Under the previous government of the Law and Justice party, Poland was seen as gravitating toward one of the U.S. aircraft types.

“We need at least two more squadrons of multirole aircraft,” Mariusz Błaszczak, an opposition lawmaker for the Law and Justice party and the country’s former defense minister, told Defense News. “This decision must be made at the military level. Various scenarios are being considered, among them, heavy twin-engine F-15EX or more F-35As and F-16s.”

However, in December 2023, the ousted right-wing Cabinet was replaced by a centrist coalition which has been making efforts to strengthen Warsaw’s ties with European partners, including in the field of defense.

While vowing to keep close relations with Washington, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has strived to involve his country in a rising number of Europe-focused military projects. These include the European Sky Shield Initiative, an air defense project, as well as the pan-European program to build a new main battle tank.

In May 2024, OBRUM, a PGZ offshoot specialized in research and development for the country’s land forces, declared it is joining “the game for the European tank of the future.”