Norway Deploys F-35 Fighter Jets to Patrol Polish Border

Norwegian F-35 fighters will begin a NATO air policing mission in Poland in October. Pilots will be prepared to shoot down Russian drones and aircraft in the event of a violation of Polish airspace, provided they receive authorization.

Polskie Radio 24 reported on this.

“The North Atlantic Alliance has warned Russia not to escalate the situation. Our mission in Poland will primarily be to defend NATO territory from aerial threats. We will be ready to intercept objects that violate Polish airspace,” said Norway’s Deputy Minister of Defence, Andreas Flåm.

The official emphasized that the Supreme Allied Commander Europe would determine the appropriate actions each time, and the command had numerous tools at its disposal to prevent aerial provocations.

“We have strengthened surveillance and deterrence on the eastern flank. Allied military presence in countries bordering Russia has significantly increased,” he added.

The F-35s of the Royal Norwegian Air Force are expected to arrive in Poland in the coming days. This will be the second such mission this year, with the previous one lasting from January to the summer.

In July, the Netherlands took over from Norway, sending their own fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets to Poland to secure the supply routes of weapons to Ukraine.

From September 1st to December 1st, Dutch F-35s will patrol NATO airspace over Eastern Europe. Now, Norwegian fighter jets of the same type will join them once again.

Dutch F-35s, stationed in Poland, took to the skies alongside Polish F-16s to intercept and neutralize Russian drones that had repeatedly violated Polish airspace.

In this operation, an F-35A from the Royal Netherlands Air Force, tail number F-027, belonging to the 313th Squadron, successfully destroyed a Russian drone for the first time.