Poland will need additional combat aircraft if it wants to establish air superiority over its own territory, according to Maj. (Ret.) Robert Gałązka, a military pilot and instructor. He argues that the acquisition of the F-35, a fifth-generation multirole platform, significantly strengthens the capabilities of the Polish Air Force but does not complete its modernisation.
Decisions on further purchases should be based on a long-term aviation development strategy and a clearly defined role for each type of aircraft within Poland’s national defence system.
“I would like to see a public debate in Poland and a clear explanation to the public of why a particular type of equipment is being purchased,” Gałązka told the Newseria news agency. “The F-16s were acquired through a tender. Everyone knew why the system had been selected, what the purchase involved and what benefits it would bring to Polish industry, the Polish Air Force and the Armed Forces as a whole.”
He noted that the same applied to the M-346 advanced training aircraft. However, platforms such as the FA-50 and F-35 were acquired without competitive tenders.
“I would like to hear what plans the Polish Air Force has for these platforms and how it intends to use them in response to new security challenges,” Gałązka said. “The period of asymmetric conflicts appears to be over. We are a frontline country, we share a border with the Russian Federation and we need to consider how to prepare for the next 10 to 15 years. I would like to see a comprehensive plan with clearly defined objectives.”
Poland begins introducing F-35s into service
Poland signed a contract in 2020 for 32 F-35A Lightning II aircraft. The agreement, worth USD 4.6 billion, was concluded through the US Foreign Military Sales procedure and included training and logistics packages.
The first F-35s were officially accepted into service with the Polish Armed Forces in June 2026. According to the Ministry of National Defence, another 11 aircraft are expected to arrive at the Łask airbase in the following months, followed by 12 more in 2027 and the remaining aircraft in subsequent years.
Poland’s Armed Forces Development Programme for 2025–2039 also provides for the acquisition of two additional combat aircraft squadrons, comprising another 32 fifth-generation aircraft.
Gen. Wiesław Kukuła, Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, has indicated that the military is interested only in fifth-generation or more advanced aircraft. Any future agreement is expected to cover not only the aircraft themselves, but also weapons, training packages and some form of participation by the Polish defence industry.
“The F-35 is certainly a good acquisition because it is a new-generation aircraft that gives the Air Force and the Armed Forces as a whole new capabilities,” Gałązka said. “The question is how many of these aircraft we need and what comes with them: the weapons package, the training package and industrial offset.”
In his assessment, Poland will need substantially more combat aircraft if it wants to establish air dominance over its own territory.
“We need fighter aviation to achieve that, and we do not currently have it. At present, we have multirole aviation,” he said.
Business group calls for a mixed fighter fleet
In June, the Business Centre Club sent an appeal to Poland’s highest state authorities concerning the structure of future combat aircraft purchases.
The organisation focused on several key issues, including the diversification of the fleet, the different operational roles of individual aircraft types, equipment availability and reliability, and the economic impact of the purchase.
BCC does not dispute the need for Poland to operate the F-35. It argues, however, that buying another 32 aircraft of the same type would be a military and economic mistake. The organisation advocates a mixed fleet combining the stealth and sensor capabilities of the F-35 with specialised air-superiority aircraft.
In its appeal, BCC proposed that Poland’s existing order for 32 F-35s should eventually be supplemented by 32 Eurofighter Typhoons. It also called for talks with the Eurofighter consortium on industrial cooperation and the development of Polish capabilities that could support future participation in the Global Combat Air Programme, or GCAP.
According to BCC, a diversified fleet would provide greater operational flexibility and improve resilience if the available weapons, spare parts or aircraft of one type became temporarily depleted or unavailable.
The organisation also called for an open parliamentary debate before any new agreement is signed, involving representatives of the armed forces, government, industry and independent experts.
The security environment has changed
Gałązka acknowledged that his own assessment of Poland’s requirements has changed significantly over the past 15 years.
“Had I been asked 15 years ago, I would have said that we needed 300 F-16s and would have managed with them,” he said. “I have now changed my mind because of what is happening beyond our borders.”
Poland is developing an integrated air-defence system based on programmes including Wisła, Narew, Pilica and San. Combat aviation, however, must also be treated as an integral part of that system.
“Multirole aviation developed during a period when the world was largely unipolar and few people expected symmetrical armed conflicts,” Gałązka explained.
A number of European countries, including Germany and the United Kingdom, operate specialised air-superiority aircraft alongside multirole platforms. Such diversification increases operational options and may be particularly important for Poland, which lacks strategic depth.
Poland’s eastern border is relatively close to its major political, military and economic centres. Warsaw lies approximately 150 kilometres from the border with Belarus, substantially reducing the time available to detect and respond to a potential attack.
“If we want to defend the Republic of Poland, we must have air superiority over our own territory so that our forces can manoeuvre freely,” Gałązka said. “Since the Second World War, there has not been an armed conflict in which the victorious side did not possess air superiority. It is therefore an essential condition for achieving victory.”
In his view, Poland still lacks a platform specifically designed to establish or contest control of the air.
“In the West, we have platforms such as the F-22, F-15C, F-15EX and the European Eurofighter,” he said. “We also need an effector—a long-range missile capable of pushing a potential adversary away from Poland’s borders.”
Defence purchases should support Polish industry
Business Centre Club has also emphasised that major defence contracts should contribute to the development of the Polish economy and domestic defence sector.
“Regardless of what equipment is selected, Poland should seek to ensure that the offset component is embedded primarily within the Polish defence industry,” Prof. Paweł Wojciechowski, BCC’s chief economist, said during the debate entitled “The Second Tranche of Combat Aircraft for Poland: Capabilities, Money and Industry.”
He pointed out that in the past, offset projects were sometimes unrelated to the domestic defence sector.
“The situation is different today, but that does not mean we are always able to negotiate the best possible terms at the contract stage,” Wojciechowski said. “We need to consider the entire product life cycle—from the acquisition of the aircraft to spare parts, training and MRO services, including technical support and future modernisation.”
In his assessment, industrial cooperation should therefore be planned in stages and extended throughout the aircraft’s operational life rather than limited to the initial purchase.
BCC wants any future selection process to consider not only combat capabilities, but also the involvement of Polish companies, technology transfers, operating costs, weapons packages, pilot training and maintenance infrastructure.
The organisation also argues that decisions taken today could affect Poland’s prospects of participating in GCAP, the sixth-generation fighter programme being developed by the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan.
More aircraft also means more pilots and technicians
The modernisation of the Polish Air Force will require more than the purchase of new aircraft. Poland will also need a sufficiently large pool of trained pilots, instructors, ground crews and maintenance specialists.
The simultaneous introduction of platforms such as the FA-50 and F-35 is already increasing demand for qualified personnel and placing additional pressure on the military training system.
“The recent purchases of new equipment and platforms require appropriate personnel,” Gałązka said. “Dęblin has a very modern jet-pilot training system based on the M-346 aircraft. It simply needs to be scaled up so that more pilots can be trained.”
The debate over Poland’s next fighter aircraft is therefore not limited to a choice between individual manufacturers or models. It concerns the structure of the future fleet, the role of combat aviation within the country’s integrated air-defence system, the availability of weapons and personnel, and the extent to which defence spending can strengthen Poland’s industrial and technological capabilities.
