Lockheed Martin presents the F-35A Husarz, the new winged hussar of the Polish Air Force

@DefAviation ES 8·28·2024 · 23:36 0

In the seventeenth century, the Polish winged hussars were the best heavy cavalry in the world, as demonstrated in the Second Siege of Vienna in 1683.

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In that battle, the Polish armored riders headed by King Jan III Sobieski had a determining role in the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and managed to prevent Central Europe from being subjected by Islam. Today Poland faces another threat: Russian expansionism , for which the Polish Army is carrying out a process of rearming and expanding its resources both in their Land Forces, and in its Navy, its Air Force, its Special Forces and its Territorial Defense Force.

on August 28 is the Święto Lotnictwa Polskiego (Polish Aviation Day). The Polish Air Force is carrying out a replacement process of its old SU-22 and MiG-29 of Soviet origin, and today has been the day chosen by Lockheed Martin to present the first Polish F-35A, which will be the dorsal spine of the Polish air defense once between service.

As usual with many of its airplanes, even those made in other countries, the Polish Air Force has chosen a significant nickname for its F-35A: "Husarz", in memory of the winged hussars of Polish cavalry. The presentation took place at Forth Worth, Texas.

lockheed has managed to touch the sensitive fiber of the Poles with the images you have published of the F-35A Husarz, showing this plane with the illustrations of a winged hussar that you can see in this article.

According to the Polish Military newspaper Polska Zbrojna, the Major General Ireneusz Nowak, inspector of the Polish Air Force, signed the symbolic writing confirming the delivery of this first plane. During the ceremony of this first F-35A, Major General Nowak has declared:

"Over more than 100-years of the Polish Air Force, there have been many generations of pilots and aircraft. I am proud to be part of history today, introducing the F-35 as the next generation, which will protect and defend Poland's future for many years. We are joining a strong coalition of 5th generation fighters across Europe, bolstering air superiority through allied deterrence."

Nowak confirmed that the F-35 will allow to remove all the planes of Soviet origin that still remain in the Polish Air Force, among them the mig-29 fighters that Poland has donated to Ukraine to deal with the invasion Russian. In 2000, the previous Polish conservative government signed the purchase of 32 F-35A lightning II. The Polish F-35 are of the conventional take-off and landing variant for clues on the mainland. They will be deployed in two air bases: Łask (in the center of Poland and where F-16 fighters are currently operating) and Świdwin (in the northwest of the country, from where the Polish SU-22 fly today).

As a curiosity, the F-35A Husarz will be the first fighter that carries the traditional Polish checkerboard in a low visibility version, that is, in two shades of gray, instead of the white and red colors of the Polish flag. This has generated some debate in Poland, because there are many Poles who wanted to see their national colors in the new plane. Here you can see a video of the manufacture of this first Polish F-35 that shows how its national badges were made:

Follow along with Poland’s first F-35 as it's brought to life!

We’re one step closer to revealing Poland's F-35A “Husarz”. How close? Next Wednesday, in fact. 👀 pic.twitter.com/lGND5XQMfe

— F-35 Lightning II (@thef35) August 23, 2024

In addition to the F-35, in June 2022 the previous Polish Government signed the purchase of 48 KAI FA-50 Golden Eagle light fighters to South Korea: 12 FA-50GF (already delivered) and 36 FA-50PL fighters, which will be a version adapted to Polish needs. Unlike F-35A, FA-50 have no stealth capacity, although they have very advanced avionics. Externally, these Korean fighters are very similar to F-16, especially in their wings and their tail.

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Images: Lockheed Martin / Polska Zbrojna / f35.com.