Norwegian F-35 fighters will be stationed near Poznań, Poland, starting in October, with pilots authorized to shoot down Russian drones and aircraft that cross into Polish airspace.
The deployment marks the latest expansion of NATO air defense along the Alliance's eastern border
Polish and NATO forces, including Polish F-16s and Dutch F-35s along with German Patriot missile systems, shot down at least four drones, prompting Poland to invoke Article 4 of the NATO treaty and temporarily close airports near Warsaw and Lublin.
Additional violations included Russian fighter jets breaching the safety zone of the Petrobaltic drilling platform in the Baltic Sea on 19 September and a drone crash in a Polish village near the Ukrainian border in August.
"We will be ready to intercept [objects] violating Polish airspace," Norwegian Deputy Defense Minister Andreas Flaam stated, according to Polskie Radio24 citing the Norwegian government.
The final decision to engage will rest with the Commander of NATO Joint Forces in Europe in each instance.
Flaam emphasized the broader shift: allied military presence in countries bordering Russia has grown substantially. Surveillance and deterrence capabilities on NATO's eastern flank have been reinforced.
This marks Norway's second F-35 mission to Poland in 2025. The previous operation ran from January through summer, indicating a pattern of rotating air defense support rather than a one-time response.
Norwegian Defense Minister Tore Sandvik framed the mission during his Warsaw visit this week as both operational and deterrent. The F-35s will defend Polish airspace. Their presence, he argued, should discourage further Kremlin provocations.
NATO's response also involved the "Eastern Sentinel" initiative when ground forces were deployed to eight countries along Europe's eastern flank, complemented by the air patrols.
