The US Air Force is sending six fifth-generation F-22 Raptor jets to Poland in support of NATO’s air shielding mission.

This is reported by Stars and Stripes.

Six F-22 Raptor jets from the Alaska-based 90th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron arrived at RAF Lakenheath in England.

They will continue on to the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Lask, Poland.

The transfer of six American fighters is carried out according to the decision of the recent NATO summit in Madrid.

Plans to bolster defenses came out of the summit, where NATO member states mapped out a new security strategy that accounts for the situation created by Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Allies’ air shielding focuses on adding ground- and air-based missile defense systems to NATO’s eastern borders, beyond what was deployed there following Russia’s Feb. 24 incursion into Ukraine.

Last year, Lockheed Martin signed a framework deal with the US Air Force for the maintenance and upgrade of the F-22 Raptor jet fleet.

The project to upgrade and maintain a fleet of about 180 fighters is contracted with the F-22 Program Office under the Advanced Raptor Enhancement & Sustainment (ARES) project.

The deal provides for the supply of necessary materials and services to support the F-22 fleet, including the purchase of equipment kits for upgrade, as well as logistics services worth $10.863 billion.

Work on the project is expected to be completed by October 31, 2031.

F-22 Raptor is a fifth-generation multirole fighter developed by Lockheed Martin to replace the fourth-generation F-15 Eagle fighter. In 2005, the F-22 entered service with the US Air Force, during serial production (from 1997 to 2011), 187 serial units and 8 prototypes were produced.