An A400M Atlas aircraft represented Spain at the Polish Army Day parade in 2026

Every August 15th, Poland celebrates the anniversary of the Polish victory over the Red Army in the Battle of Warsaw in 1920.

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This anniversary became an official celebration in 1923 as Święto Wojska Polskiego, the Polish Army Day (in Poland, this term refers to the entire Armed Forces, comprising the Army, Navy, Air Force, Special Forces, and Territorial Defense Force). This celebration was interrupted by World War II and the communist dictatorship (1945–1989), and was reinstated in 1992. Every August 15, Poland organizes a large military parade in Warsaw, which in recent years has served to showcase Poland's acquisitions in its rearmament process against the threat of Russian expansionism.

You can see above these lines the official broadcast of the parade made by the Polish Ministry of National Defense (the video is in Polish, you can activate the automatic English subtitles in the player).

The main novelty this year was in the air parade, as it was the first time it featured the participation of two F-35A Husarz fighter jets (Hussar), the official nickname for this stealth fighter in the Polish Air Force, in remembrance of the famous Polish winged hussars. The first Polish F-35As arrived in Poland on May 22.

The F-35A has been given a place of honor in the parade, forming part of its final formation, which included two F-35As and two F-16 fighters.

There were no major changes in the ground parade compared to previous years, although some details were seen that are part of the lessons learned in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, such as these KTO Rosomak infantry fighting vehicles with ZSSW-30 unmanned turrets protected by anti-drone grilles, an addition that has become very common in the combat vehicles of both sides in Ukraine.

This AMZ Bobr-3 amphibious reconnaissance vehicle was also seen equipped with cage armor, also known as cage armor, an addition that is also being seen a lot in Ukraine and that provides some protection against RPG-type rocket-propelled grenades.

Regarding foreign participation, several allied countries sent vehicles, troops, and aircraft to the parade. Spain was represented in the parade by an A400M Atlas transport aircraft from Wing 31, the T.23-04 (MSN082, 10174, 31-24). As we can see in these two photos published by the Polish Ministry of National Defense, the aircraft is equipped with Cobham 908E WDE aerial refueling pods. This aircraft is part of the "Paznic" tactical air detachment deployed by the Spanish Air Force in Romania at the beginning of this month on a NATO Enhanced Air Policing mission.

The participation of this aircraft in the Polish Army Day military parade comes months after the Polish government confirmed its interest in acquiring A400M and A330 MRTT aircraft for the Polish Air Force, which currently lacks both in-flight refueling and long-range transport aircraft.

On Tuesday, August 11, Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski stated that Poland is already negotiating the purchase of A400M transport aircraft, and that the financing could come from the European Union's SAFE mechanism. Therefore, Spain's participation in this parade with an A400M could give impetus to that agreement, showing the Poles this formidable aircraft up close.

You can see the Spanish A400M in the Warsaw air show at 1:21:49 in the parade video (click here to see the exact moment). These last images are screenshots taken from that video. Hopefully, we'll soon see A400M aircraft with Polish markings.

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Photos: Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej.