A Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force F-35A Lightning II 5th generation stealth fighter developed history by ending up being the very first NATO fight airplane to shoot down a minimum of one and perhaps several Russian pilotless armed airplane. The F-35A which ruined the Russian drones has a kill mark on its fuselage to highlight its accomplishment.
The Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force and the nation’s Ministry of Defense launched images revealing a F-35A with a drone kill mark on the fuselage. The triangular delta-wing style of the mark, painted in white color simply listed below the cockpit of the stealth jet, is a copy of the Russian Geran-2, cloned from Iran’s HESA Shahed 136.
No other F-35 of the Royal Netherlands Air Force and Space Force sports the kill mark, validating that just one battle airplane was associated with the shoot down. The F-35 with the verified Russian drone kill has tail number F-027.
A news release by the Netherlands Ministry of Defense on September 30, 2025, with the picture of the F-35A that eliminated the Russian drone states:”The F-35 fighter jets in Poland will remain in the nation from September 1st to December 1st to add to the defense of the NATO treaty location. Dutch pilots have actually currently seen action numerous times, consisting of as soon as utilizing weapons to shoot down Russian drones. Beginning in December, the Netherlands will likewise station Patriot systems, Nasams, and anti-drone systems in Poland to even more enhance air defenses and secure a crucial logistics center for assistance to Ukraine.” (Translated from Dutch to English utilizing Google Translator)
A Business Insider report priced quote the Netherlands Ministry of Defense validating marking was included “after taking out multiple drones in Polish Airspace in September.” The ministry did not reveal the number of drones shot down by the F-35.
A swarm of Russian drones, much of which were the Geran-2 drones, breached Poland’s airspace on September 9-10, 2025. Polish Air Force Polish F-16 fighters and NATO air patrol groups rushed F-35s to obstruct the Russian drone swarm.
Throughout the obstruct, one Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force F-35A locked onto a Russian Geran-2 drone over the skies of Lublin province and shot it down. The particles of the drone fell on the ground and was later on verified to be of Russian origin. The shoot down is the very first validated battle kill by a Dutch F-35A. It is likewise the very first time a NATO battle airplane has actually actively engaged a Russian aerial risk.
The Dutch F-35A had actually removed from Poland’s Łask Air Base under NATO’s Air Policing objective.