The United States and Poland are going to soon sign a contract for the supply of 96 American-made AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. According to TASS, this was stated by the Minister of National Defense of Poland Mariusz Blaszczak after a meeting with the head of the Pentagon Lloyd Austin in Washington.
At the same time, he noted that even before signing the contract, Warsaw expects to receive a batch of American helicopters. “I would like to emphasize that we received an assurance that the US Army will provide us with Apache helicopters, from its own stocks, even before signing a contract for the purchase of 96 helicopters for the needs of the Polish Army. <…> We greatly appreciate the Secretary of Defense’s decision as these Apaches will be taken from the United States Army. In a few weeks, Polish pilots will begin training, and upon completion of the training, we will already have the first Apaches in stock,” Polish television quoted the head of the defense department of the republic as saying.
According to the Polish Press Agency, we are talking about the transfer of eight helicopters from the US Army’s own stocks to Poland. Warsaw first announced its intention to purchase 96 Apache from Washington and lease some of the helicopters during the production of the main batch during Blaszczak’s meeting with Austin at the German Ramstein airbase in September 2022. Later, the Polish defense ministry announced plans to equip the 18th mechanized division, which is called the Iron Division, with new combat vehicles.
Blaszczak also stressed that American helicopters would help reinforce NATO’s eastern flank and provide reliable protection for the so-called Brest Gates. So in Poland they call a flat area in the east of the republic with a length of about 180 km, separating Warsaw and Belarusian Brest. The Polish military considers it a vulnerable place for defense in a hypothetical military conflict due to the lack of natural barriers.
Source: Rosbalt
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