The Dutch Ministry of Defence published a photo of an F-35 stationed in Poland. Attention was drawn to a small marking painted on the aircraft’s fuselage, depicting the outline of a drone resembling a Russian Shahed/Geran UAV.
On the night of September 9-10, Russia carried out multiple violations of Polish airspace using drones. Polish and allied aviation was deployed to neutralize part of the targets.
Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz reported that planes and helicopters were scrambled, including allied early warning aircraft, Dutch F-35s, Polish F-16s, our Mi-24 and Mi-17 helicopters as well as Black Hawks, and allied tankers. “The aircraft were refueled during the operation,” he stated.
Four Dutch F-35s have been helping to guard the skies on NATO’s eastern flank since the beginning of September 2025. The Dutch pilots’ patrol duty will last until December 1, 2025.
Dutch minister in Poland
On Tuesday, the Dutch Ministry of Defence published a report on the visit of the Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Ruben Brekelmans with Dutch pilots in Poland.
The article noted that in conversation with the pilots, the minister “learned more about the downing of Russian Shahed drones earlier this month.”
“Dutch pilots have already been observed in action several times, including once when they used weapons to shoot down Russian drones,” the statement said.
The release was accompanied by a photo of a Dutch F-35.
An aircraft with the same side numbers can be seen in other photos from Poland, including those shared by the 18th Mechanized Division.
It was noted that in the photo published by the Dutch Ministry of Defence, the F-35 bore a marking on its fuselage indicating the downing of a drone, shaped like the outline of a Russian Shahed/Geran.
Ukrainian media also drew attention to this: