A Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force F-35A Lightning II fifth generation stealth fighter created history by becoming the first NATO combat aircraft to shoot down at least one and possibly multiple Russian pilotless armed aircraft. The F-35A which destroyed the Russian drones has a kill mark on its fuselage to highlight its achievement.
The Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force and the country’s Ministry of Defense released photos showing a F-35A with a drone kill mark on the fuselage. The triangular delta-wing design of the mark, painted in white color just 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, confirming that only one combat aircraft was involved in the shoot down. The F-35 with the confirmed Russian drone kill has tail number F-027.
A press release by the Netherlands Ministry of Defense on September 30, 2025, with the photo of the F-35A that killed the Russian drone states: “The F-35 fighter jets in Poland will be in the country from September 1st to December 1st to contribute to the protection of the NATO treaty area. Dutch pilots have already seen action several times, including once using weapons to
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