Poland signs $500 million U.S. AIM-120D-3 AMRAAM missile deal to arm F-35A fighter jets
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Poland has signed a 500 million dollar government-to-government contract with the United States to buy AIM-120D-3 AMRAAMs for its future F-35A Husarz fleet and existing F-16Cs/Ds, following a wider U.S. approval worth up to 1.33 billion for as many as 400 missiles and support. This move locks in long-range, networked air-to-air firepower for Poland as its F-35s enter service and NATO reinforces its air defense posture on the eastern flank.
Poland has begun turning a paper authorization into real missile stocks, with Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz confirming on 27 November that Warsaw has signed a roughly 500 million dollar contract to procure AIM-120D-3 AMRAAMs for its F-35A Lightning II Husarz and upgraded F-16C/D Jastrząb fighters. His announcement on X follows an April U.S. State Department decision that cleared a possible Foreign Military Sale of up to 400 AIM-120D-series missiles and associated equipment to Poland for an estimated 1.33 billion dollars, and it positions RTX in Tucson as prime contractor for one of the most advanced air-to-air weapons now entering NATO inventories.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Warsaw is starting to turn an authorization on paper into actual stocks of modern air-to-air missiles that can be integrated first on the F-16C/D Block 52+ fleet and then on the F-35 Lightning II (F-35), which are currently based in the United States for training.(Picture source: US DoD)
The decision taken in the spring by the U.S. Department of State opened the way for the delivery of up to 400 AIM-120D-3 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) to Poland, together with guidance sections, an instrumented test vehicle and a substantial package of test equipment, encryption devices, and software support. The 500 million dollar figure mentioned by Kosiniak-Kamysz likely corresponds to an initial batch and a support tranche within this broader framework, with RTX in Tucson designated as prime contractor. In practice, Warsaw is starting to turn an authorization on paper into actual stocks of modern air-to-air missiles that can be integrated first on the F-16C/D Block 52+ fleet and then on the F-35 Lightning II (F-35), which are currently based in the United States for training.
Poland ordered 32 F-35A Lightning II Husarz under a 4.6 billion dollar Foreign Military Sales contract signed with the United States on 31 January 2020, including 33 Pratt & Whitney F135 engines, training for around 24 pilots and 90 technicians, and an initial support package. The first airframes, assembled from 2024 onwards, have been delivered not to Poland but to Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas, where the first two Polish F-35As landed on 23 December 2024 to serve as training aircraft, with a Polish pilot performing his first flight on the F-35A on 31 January 2025. Official plans then provide for the arrival of the first F-35A on Polish territory from 2026, with initial deployment to the 32nd Tactical Air Base at Łask and then to the 21st Tactical Air Base at Świdwin, and a gradual build-up until 2030 to reach all 32 aircraft.
The AIM-120D-3 sits at the top of the AMRAAM medium-range air-to-air missile family. Developed under the Form, Fit, Function Refresh (F3R) programme, it incorporates a thoroughly redesigned electronic architecture with new circuit cards and the System Improvement Program-3F (SIP-3F) software suite. The AIM-120D series extends the engagement envelope of earlier C-5/6/7 variants, which is around 105 to 120 km, to approximately 160 to 180 km depending on launch altitude and target profile, while retaining a top speed close to Mach 4. Guidance combines an inertial navigation unit with GPS updates and an active radar seeker in the terminal phase, supported by a two-way data link that allows target reassignment or refinement of the trajectory in flight. A fragmentation warhead of about 20 kg, combined with proximity sensors and an impact fuze, is designed to destroy maneuvering combat aircraft, cruise missiles, and high-value support platforms.
Poland already uses earlier AMRAAM variants on its F-16C/D Jastrząb fleet, which itself is entering a modernisation cycle of approximately 3.8 billion dollars, including new sensors, improved communications and better integration with land forces and the future F-35 component. In this context, the AIM-120D-3 offers Warsaw a single family of beyond-visual-range missiles for two generations of combat aircraft. The F-35 Lightning II brings a low-observable airframe, an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, a distributed set of infrared sensors and computing power that fuses information from the aircraft, other airborne platforms and ground-based systems. This allows the aircraft to detect, classify, and track multiple aerial targets at long range, then pass refined tracks to AIM-120D-3 missiles fired from internal bays or from accompanying F-16s, while remaining outside the densest engagement zones of Russian long-range surface-to-air systems.
At the tactical level, pairing the AIM-120D-3 with the F-35 changes the geometry of Polish air defence. The missile’s extended range and two-way data link allow early engagements, with the F-35 acting as a forward stealth sensor and fire-control node. In a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) configuration, an F-35 patrol detecting a hostile aircraft or a cruise missile approaching NATO airspace can launch an AIM-120D-3 beyond visual range, then adjust the missile’s trajectory using fused radar and infrared tracks until the active seeker takes over in the final seconds of flight. Cooperative tactics also become more realistic: a stealth F-35 identifies and designates targets, while F-16s positioned further back launch their AMRAAMs into engagement zones they cannot directly see, in line with the multi-domain approach that Poland seeks to develop between its air and land forces.
Warsaw is moving toward defence spending close to 5 percent of GDP and is pursuing several programmes in parallel: F-16 modernisation, acquisition of M1A2 Abrams tanks, AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, and reinforcement of ground-based air defence with systems compatible with Alliance architectures. The AIM-120D-3, which can also be employed from systems such as the Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS), potentially offers the option of aligning air-to-air missiles and surface-to-air interceptors around a single missile family and a common logistics chain. As F-35 deliveries increase toward the end of the decade and as Łask and Świdwin are adapted to host two tactical squadrons, the combination of a stealth aircraft and late-generation AMRAAMs contributes to shifting Polish air defence from a Soviet-era legacy model to a posture fully interoperable with NATO standards.
By moving from authorization to a firm order for AIM-120D-3 missiles, Poland confirms its position among the closest military partners of Washington in Europe, alongside countries such as Finland and Germany that are also opting for this variant on their own F-35 fleets. For Russia, this development adds an additional constraint on air operations near NATO’s north-eastern flank, as advanced fighters based in Poland and over the Baltic Sea will be able to contest a wider portion of the airspace at long range. For NATO planners, the agreement fits into a trajectory that already includes the deployment of Dutch and Norwegian F-35s on air policing missions over Polish territory and illustrates the gradual shift of high-end airpower toward the Alliance’s eastern front. In practical terms, the 500 million dollar announcement made by Kosiniak-Kamysz marks another step toward a Polish air defence posture integrated into the most modern tier of the transatlantic industrial and operational ecosystem.
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Poland has signed a 500 million dollar government-to-government contract with the United States to buy AIM-120D-3 AMRAAMs for its future F-35A Husarz fleet and existing F-16Cs/Ds, following a wider U.S. approval worth up to 1.33 billion for as many as 400 missiles and support. This move locks in long-range, networked air-to-air firepower for Poland as its F-35s enter service and NATO reinforces its air defense posture on the eastern flank.
Poland has begun turning a paper authorization into real missile stocks, with Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz confirming on 27 November that Warsaw has signed a roughly 500 million dollar contract to procure AIM-120D-3 AMRAAMs for its F-35A Lightning II Husarz and upgraded F-16C/D Jastrząb fighters. His announcement on X follows an April U.S. State Department decision that cleared a possible Foreign Military Sale of up to 400 AIM-120D-series missiles and associated equipment to Poland for an estimated 1.33 billion dollars, and it positions RTX in Tucson as prime contractor for one of the most advanced air-to-air weapons now entering NATO inventories.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Warsaw is starting to turn an authorization on paper into actual stocks of modern air-to-air missiles that can be integrated first on the F-16C/D Block 52+ fleet and then on the F-35 Lightning II (F-35), which are currently based in the United States for training.(Picture source: US DoD)
The decision taken in the spring by the U.S. Department of State opened the way for the delivery of up to 400 AIM-120D-3 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) to Poland, together with guidance sections, an instrumented test vehicle and a substantial package of test equipment, encryption devices, and software support. The 500 million dollar figure mentioned by Kosiniak-Kamysz likely corresponds to an initial batch and a support tranche within this broader framework, with RTX in Tucson designated as prime contractor. In practice, Warsaw is starting to turn an authorization on paper into actual stocks of modern air-to-air missiles that can be integrated first on the F-16C/D Block 52+ fleet and then on the F-35 Lightning II (F-35), which are currently based in the United States for training.
Poland ordered 32 F-35A Lightning II Husarz under a 4.6 billion dollar Foreign Military Sales contract signed with the United States on 31 January 2020, including 33 Pratt & Whitney F135 engines, training for around 24 pilots and 90 technicians, and an initial support package. The first airframes, assembled from 2024 onwards, have been delivered not to Poland but to Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas, where the first two Polish F-35As landed on 23 December 2024 to serve as training aircraft, with a Polish pilot performing his first flight on the F-35A on 31 January 2025. Official plans then provide for the arrival of the first F-35A on Polish territory from 2026, with initial deployment to the 32nd Tactical Air Base at Łask and then to the 21st Tactical Air Base at Świdwin, and a gradual build-up until 2030 to reach all 32 aircraft.
The AIM-120D-3 sits at the top of the AMRAAM medium-range air-to-air missile family. Developed under the Form, Fit, Function Refresh (F3R) programme, it incorporates a thoroughly redesigned electronic architecture with new circuit cards and the System Improvement Program-3F (SIP-3F) software suite. The AIM-120D series extends the engagement envelope of earlier C-5/6/7 variants, which is around 105 to 120 km, to approximately 160 to 180 km depending on launch altitude and target profile, while retaining a top speed close to Mach 4. Guidance combines an inertial navigation unit with GPS updates and an active radar seeker in the terminal phase, supported by a two-way data link that allows target reassignment or refinement of the trajectory in flight. A fragmentation warhead of about 20 kg, combined with proximity sensors and an impact fuze, is designed to destroy maneuvering combat aircraft, cruise missiles, and high-value support platforms.
Poland already uses earlier AMRAAM variants on its F-16C/D Jastrząb fleet, which itself is entering a modernisation cycle of approximately 3.8 billion dollars, including new sensors, improved communications and better integration with land forces and the future F-35 component. In this context, the AIM-120D-3 offers Warsaw a single family of beyond-visual-range missiles for two generations of combat aircraft. The F-35 Lightning II brings a low-observable airframe, an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, a distributed set of infrared sensors and computing power that fuses information from the aircraft, other airborne platforms and ground-based systems. This allows the aircraft to detect, classify, and track multiple aerial targets at long range, then pass refined tracks to AIM-120D-3 missiles fired from internal bays or from accompanying F-16s, while remaining outside the densest engagement zones of Russian long-range surface-to-air systems.
At the tactical level, pairing the AIM-120D-3 with the F-35 changes the geometry of Polish air defence. The missile’s extended range and two-way data link allow early engagements, with the F-35 acting as a forward stealth sensor and fire-control node. In a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) configuration, an F-35 patrol detecting a hostile aircraft or a cruise missile approaching NATO airspace can launch an AIM-120D-3 beyond visual range, then adjust the missile’s trajectory using fused radar and infrared tracks until the active seeker takes over in the final seconds of flight. Cooperative tactics also become more realistic: a stealth F-35 identifies and designates targets, while F-16s positioned further back launch their AMRAAMs into engagement zones they cannot directly see, in line with the multi-domain approach that Poland seeks to develop between its air and land forces.
Warsaw is moving toward defence spending close to 5 percent of GDP and is pursuing several programmes in parallel: F-16 modernisation, acquisition of M1A2 Abrams tanks, AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, and reinforcement of ground-based air defence with systems compatible with Alliance architectures. The AIM-120D-3, which can also be employed from systems such as the Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS), potentially offers the option of aligning air-to-air missiles and surface-to-air interceptors around a single missile family and a common logistics chain. As F-35 deliveries increase toward the end of the decade and as Łask and Świdwin are adapted to host two tactical squadrons, the combination of a stealth aircraft and late-generation AMRAAMs contributes to shifting Polish air defence from a Soviet-era legacy model to a posture fully interoperable with NATO standards.
By moving from authorization to a firm order for AIM-120D-3 missiles, Poland confirms its position among the closest military partners of Washington in Europe, alongside countries such as Finland and Germany that are also opting for this variant on their own F-35 fleets. For Russia, this development adds an additional constraint on air operations near NATO’s north-eastern flank, as advanced fighters based in Poland and over the Baltic Sea will be able to contest a wider portion of the airspace at long range. For NATO planners, the agreement fits into a trajectory that already includes the deployment of Dutch and Norwegian F-35s on air policing missions over Polish territory and illustrates the gradual shift of high-end airpower toward the Alliance’s eastern front. In practical terms, the 500 million dollar announcement made by Kosiniak-Kamysz marks another step toward a Polish air defence posture integrated into the most modern tier of the transatlantic industrial and operational ecosystem.
