General / Off-Topic Poland goes for the F-35s

[Vasea Azure]

I must say I did not expect that happening, but as of yesterday Poland is one of the countries that will fly the F-35 multirole fighter jet. Its a huge leap forward from ancient Su-22, MiG-29 and even our current few F-16s.
Please don't turn this in to any political debate

WARSAW, Poland — Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak has signed a contract worth $4.6 billion under which the country will acquire 32 F-35A Lightning II fighter jets from the United States.
Speaking at the official signing ceremony on Jan. 31 in Deblin, where the Polish Air Force operates its 41st Training Aviation Base, Blaszczak said that the acquisition will enable the Polish military to make a technological leap.
“Today, through the signing of the F-35 deal, the air force is entering a new phase of its development,” the minister said.
In line with earlier announcements, the deal does not comprise an offset agreement. Polish ministry officials have said the decision helped Poland reduce the final price tag of Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation fighters. Last September, the U.S. State Department approved the sale for a maximum price of $6.5 billion.
“The agreement foresees the delivery of 32 multi-role aircraft … along with a training and logistics package,” the Polish ministry said in a statement.
With the delivery of the aircraft, which is scheduled to begin in 2024, Poland is to become the first user of the F-35s in the region, adding the aircraft to its fleet of 48 F-16 C/D Block 52+ fighters. Warsaw plans to replace the Air Force’s outdated Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-22 and Mikoyan MiG-29 jets with its new fifth-generation jets.

Poland inks $4.6 billion contract for F-35 fighter jets

Poles expect a technological leap as a result of the purchase, the country's defense minister said.

www.defensenews.com

 

[Rubbernuke]

Interesting. Geopolitically it makes sense, since Polands gov is aligned well with America right now.

You just have to sort out all the issues now. Yesterday a report came out saying the A variant can't shoot straight and the cannon cracks its mounting when fired.

 

[WeComeInPeace]

Interesting. Geopolitically it makes sense, since Polands gov is aligned well with America right now.

You just have to sort out all the issues now. Yesterday a report came out saying the A variant can't shoot straight and the cannon cracks its mounting when fired.

I know an engineer that can fix that, but he's living quite far from Poland and even Earth

 

[Patrick_68000]

After the United Kingdom which leaves the European Union and the Poland which buys American planes, we can say that the UE has become the ghost of itself.

Amen.

 

[AkenBosch]

Technically it's more of a Western Block plane than an American one, considering it's been designed and built a bit all over the place between the US, UK and EU countries. Whatever anyway. It looks the part, let's just hope it never has to play one.

 

[Remus]

Shame, The F-35 as is stands right now is nothing but an extremely expensive piece of junk.

If budget was not a problem, why not going for the Rafale instead?

Plenty of high end tech, receives nothing but praise from those that use it, has already been used in plenty of military operations with great effect.

The F-35, if lucky will be in service just before the new European fighter starts its first flight. :/

 

[Rubbernuke]

The F-35, if lucky will be in service just before the new European fighter starts its first flight. :/

If you mean the Future Combat Air System and BAE Tempest, they are decades away. While the F-35 is slow to finish, its not that slow.

And while the Rafale is a strong all round fighter, its at its apex in development now- i.e. its diminishing returns from now on unless it goes through a F-16 level of upgrading.

 

[Remus]

If you mean the Future Combat Air System and BAE Tempest, they are decades away. While the F-35 is slow to finish, its not that slow.

And while the Rafale is a strong all round fighter, its at its apex in development now- i.e. its diminishing returns from now on unless it goes through a F-16 level of upgrading.

With the current issues at Boeing, I would't be surprised if it doesn't end up being scraped because of costs! :/

Never mind, I just remembered that the F-35 is from Lookhed Martin. My mistake.

 

[Rubbernuke]

With the current issues at Boeing, I would't be surprised if it doesn't end up being scraped because of costs! :/

Never mind, I just remembered that the F-35 is from Lookhed Martin. My mistake.

Its too big to fail now- so much money has gone into it there is no going back :/

 

[Para Handy]

Just another example of the pressure put on "allies" by the USA in support of their military-industrial complex - like the threats made during the Norwegian procurement process:

How the US got Norway to buy F-35 Joint Strike Fighters | DefenceTalk

Some excerpts from the Embassy magazine regarding details released by Wikileaks cables detailing efforts by US to sell F-35 JSF fighter aircraft. Link to the full article is listed below. Leaked US diplomatic cables reveal a concerted, multi-departmental American lobbying effort in 2008 to...

www.defencetalk.com

Aren't they still investigating the USA influences on the decision in Canada?

 

[lysan]

After the United Kingdom which leaves the European Union and the Poland which buys American planes, we can say that the UE has become the ghost of itself.

Amen.

Good, it was becoming a....ups sorry I forgot, carry onI

 

[lysan]

Shame, The F-35 as is stands right now is nothing but an extremely expensive piece of junk.

If budget was not a problem, why not going for the Rafale instead?

Plenty of high end tech, receives nothing but praise from those that use it, has already been used in plenty of military operations with great effect.

The F-35, if lucky will be in service just before the new European fighter starts its first flight. :/

F35 is already old tech, and yes waaayyyy to expensive.

 

[Vasea Azure]

The thing with F-35 that might be a problem for Poland is that unlike F-16 this platform requires certain infrastructure to be utilize to its full potential. As of now Poland has non of it. Its like me buying the Formula 1 bolid. Of course Poland is still in NATO so I`m sure the F-35 will be a helpful addition but there are many many voices from experts in our country that this wasn't the best choice of air frame and probably will be way too expensive to use in the future. Also Polish army is in desperate need for almost everything else but F-35.
USA president is a businessman first and foremost, pretty sure he is very happy selling them

 

[Rubbernuke]

Just another example of the pressure put on "allies" by the USA in support of their military-industrial complex - like the threats made during the Norwegian procurement process:

How the US got Norway to buy F-35 Joint Strike Fighters | DefenceTalk

Some excerpts from the Embassy magazine regarding details released by Wikileaks cables detailing efforts by US to sell F-35 JSF fighter aircraft. Link to the full article is listed below. Leaked US diplomatic cables reveal a concerted, multi-departmental American lobbying effort in 2008 to...

www.defencetalk.com

Aren't they still investigating the USA influences on the decision in Canada?

It depends on what Norway needs- the Gripen is a rugged aircraft that is designed to be easy to maintain and run from makeshift airstrips (i.e. its built to fit Swedens defence doctrine of dispersal). The F-35 is the opposite of that, requiring a lot of support. However each F-35 when fully operational (as in 100%) acts like a mini AWACS and can collect and share huge amounts of data while doing its job.

 

[Rubbernuke]

The thing with F-35 that might be a problem for Poland is that unlike F-16 this platform requires certain infrastructure to be utilize to its full potential. As of now Poland has non of it. Its like me buying the Formula 1 bolid. Of course Poland is still in NATO so I`m sure the F-35 will be a helpful addition but there are many many voices from experts in our country that this wasn't the best choice of air frame and probably will be way too expensive to use in the future. Also Polish army is in desperate need for almost everything else but F-35.
USA president is a businessman first and foremost, pretty sure he is very happy selling them

You buy into support- for example Turkey was / is the place nearly all F-35 go to be maintained, that is unless you buy the ability to do it yourself. Its why I shake my head at the UK who was the only level 1 partner in the program having to do this and not service the airframes in the UK.

 

[Patrick_68000]

Shame, The F-35 as is stands right now is nothing but an extremely expensive piece of junk.

If budget was not a problem, why not going for the Rafale instead?

Plenty of high end tech, receives nothing but praise from those that use it, has already been used in plenty of military operations with great effect.

The F-35, if lucky will be in service just before the new European fighter starts its first flight. :/

Since its birth the Rafale has had big difficulty to find buyers.

Yet it’s an exceptional plane.