Poland’s Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced the arrival, saying the aircraft will land at the Poznań-Krzesiny base, with additional F-35s to join later this month.
The Royal Norwegian Air Force mission will be the second of its kind in Poland this year after a January-to-summer rotation.
Norwegian pilots will conduct patrols in close cooperation with Polish and Dutch crews. Oslo says the deployment aims to defend the Alliance’s eastern flank and deter potential threats.
Crews will be ready to intercept Russian aircraft and drones if Polish airspace is violated, but any decision to use weapons rests with NATO command.
“The North Atlantic Alliance has warned Russia not to escalate. Our mission in Poland will primarily be to defend NATO territory against air threats. We will be ready to intercept objects violating Polish airspace,” Norwegian deputy defense minister Andreas Flaam told PAP, stressing that NATO’s European commander will decide on measures in each case.
Norway’s defense ministry adds that heightened allied presence in the region is also preventive; the F-35s’ presence in Poland is meant to deter Moscow and reduce the risk of provocations. Norwegian defense minister Tore O. Sandvik voiced a similar view in Warsaw days earlier, calling the fighters part of the Alliance’s surveillance and deterrence system.
Kosiniak-Kamysz noted Poland is awaiting its own F-35s—two aircraft have already entered the Air Force inventory—and that allied support remains vital until the fleet is fully introduced.
NATO command frames the patrols as part of a broader strategy to bolster security for states bordering Russia. In recent months, the Alliance says it has significantly increased air forces on the eastern flank; such missions serve both operational needs and a political signal of allied unity and resolve.
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Source: PAP