How a Lone Dutch F-35 Helped Tackle Russia’s Drone Incursion Into Poland

A Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35A fifth generation fighter provided support to Polish F-16C/D fighters in their efforts to shoot down drones that violated Poland’s airspace, with the unmanned aircraft alleged by Western sources to have been launchd by Russia. The Polish Armed Forces reported regarding the operation: “We thank NATO and the Netherlands Air Force, whose F-35 fighters helped ensure safety in Polish skies tonight.” Polish Foreign Minister Van Weel stated regarding the involvement of the Dutch fighter: “The Netherlands fully supports Poland… NATO must remain ready, and stricter sanctions should put greater pressure on Russia’s war economy.” It remains uncertain whether the F-35 was involved in shooting down the unmanned aircraft, or whether it may have used its superior sensors and data sharing capabilities to support combat operations by Polish F-16s.

The F-35 has long been praised for its ability to serve as a force multiplier for fourth generation fighters, with its AN/APG-81 active electronically scanned array radar not only being much larger than those carried by F-16s, but also being far more advanced than the obsolete mechanically scanned array radars carried by Polish fighters. The stealth fighter also integrates an infrared sensor and passive electronic sensors which contribute to its far grater levels of situational awareness than other Western fighter classes. The F-16 by contrast, which carries by far the smallest radar of any modern Western fighter class other than the Gripen, sits at the opposite end of the spectrum. The value of the support provided by F-35s to older fighters was recently highlighted by an Israeli F-16 pilot, who noted that the majority of F-35 sorties flown during the country’s attack on Iran in June were for intelligence collection, which allowed the F-16s that formed the backbone of the country’s fighter fleet to operate much more effectively.

The F-35’s unique sensors have made the aircraft highly prized in Eastern Europe, with the U.S. Air Force having deployed the aircraft in the region to collect valuable electronic intelligence on Russian air defences in the Ukrainian theatre. This has led to what analysts have termed ‘duels in the electromagnetic spectrum’ between the fighters and Russian ground-based assets such as S-300 systems. Although Polish air defence capabilities are currently limited, they are expected to be improved considerably with the procurement of South Korean FA-50 fighters, the modernisation of F-16s to a ‘4+ generation’ standard with new radars and avionics, and the procurement of a small fleet of 32 F-35s. The possibility of the F-35 having been involved in direct combat with Russian drones could mark the first time that the fifth generation fighter has seen combat in Europe. Russia’s own fifth generation fighter, the Su-57, has been deployed extensively in the Ukrainian theatre for air to air combat,precision strike, and air defence suppression missions, and has operated in highly contested airspace as part of these missions.