Poland has signed a $3.8 billion agreement with the United States to modernise its fleet of 48 F-16C/D Block 52+ fighter jets to the latest F-16V Block 70/72 configuration. The work will be carried out at the state-owned Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze Nr 2 facility in Bydgoszcz and will upgrade reconnaissance, communications and data-link capabilities, allowing closer integration with Poland’s incoming F-35A aircraft and other U.S.-made platforms. Warsaw, which plans to raise defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2026, says the overhaul will strengthen deterrence against potential Russian aggression. Switzerland, meanwhile, confirmed it still intends to procure 36 Lockheed Martin F-35A fighters even after Washington rejected Bern’s request for a fixed-price contract. The decision could lift the programme’s total cost by between CHF650 million and CHF1.3 billion, according to the defence ministry. Defence Minister Martin Pfister said options under review include trimming the size of the order, seeking additional industrial offsets or requesting extra parliamentary funding, but stressed that cancelling the acquisition is not currently on the table. The Swiss government linked the uncertainty to higher U.S. inflation, commodity costs and a newly imposed 39% U.S. tariff on Swiss goods. The diverging experiences of Poland and Switzerland underscore Europe’s accelerating but increasingly complex push to upgrade air capabilities through U.S.-built fighter jets.