WARSAW — Poland this week signed a $745 million agreement to purchase 200 AARGM-ER (Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles – Extended Range) missiles, produced by Northrop Grumman.
The weapons, which are to be used on Poland’s fleet of F-35A Joint Strike Fighters, are scheduled to be delivered between 2029 and 2035.
At Jan. 28 signing ceremony, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, called the deal a “breakthrough purchase” that will allow Poland to “effectively use all the capabilities of these most modern aircraft.”
The range of the weapon is over 200 km, giving Poland a long-range standoff system which can push back on the anti-access, area-denial air defenses of a potential foe — Russia, though it was not named directly by Maj. Gen. Ireneusz Nowak, general inspector of the Polish Air Force.
An A2AD system “is nothing more than a network of anti-aircraft systems based on medium- and long-range missiles, which are dangerous for our aircraft. The F-35, which, combined with its stealth [technology], will now have armament that allows the elimination of the control radars of these anti-aircraft systems, will be the right tool to do this job, which may not, let’s hope, wait for us, but must be ready for it,” Nowak said.
“We are joining the club, one could say, of an exclusive nature of users of the AARGM-ER missile … the United States, the Netherlands, Finland and Australia. And here we can say that once again Poland is becoming a leader in implementing modern weapons, but it is also acquiring capabilities that will raise its rank and position in the Central-Eastern Europe region,” the general added. “So this is a very significant purchase, and in my opinion this purchase brings not only operational capabilities, combat capabilities, but also re-establishes Poland’s position in the region.”
The US approved the potential Foreign Military Sale of the AARGM-ERs in April 2024. At the time, the approval was for 360 of the missiles with an estimated price tag of $1.275 billion. However, FMS announcements are often larger than final deals when completed.
Poland is considering future purchase of advanced weapons for use on the F-35, including the JSM anti-ship or land attack cruise missiles, GBU-53/B StormBreaker air-launched precision-guided glide bombs, as well as new AIM-120D AMRAAM or Meteor BVRAAM missiles, Lt. Col. Łukasz Treder told Breaking Defense last summer.
Treder, part of the F-35 implementation team for the Polish Air Force, said the missions that the jet will perform are secret and will depend on NATO declarations and Poland’s national requirements. However, he did not “using these aircraft … for Quick Reaction Alert missions would be a waste of their combat potential.”
The first F-35A Husarz for the Polish Air Force (AZ-02) flew on Dec. 2, 2024. The roughly one hour flight took off and at NAS JRB Fort Worth, Texas, located next to the Lockheed Martin plant where the fighters are built. The second Polish F-35A (AZ-01) flew one day later, and the third (AZ-03 flew on December 17. The first pair of jets then arrived at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Nebraska on Dec. 23. The two aircraft will be used to train Polish fighter pilots and maintainers to use the newest generation jets.
Overall, six F-35s are to be delivered to Poland in 2025, with another 14 scheduled for 2026, followed by four each in 2027 and 2028 and the final two in 2029.
The Air Force’s 85th Fighter Group, a tenant at Ebbing ANGB, will conduct the F-35 pilot training for the Foreign Military Sales program. “The arrival of Poland’s first F-35s is a significant milestone for our state, the nation and our allies who will train on this fifth-generation fighter at Ebbing Air National Guard Base,” said Brig. Gen. Chad Bridges, Arkansas adjutant general.