The United States on Monday approved a multi-billion-dollar arms deal that includes the sale of 96 Apache attack helicopters to Poland, a Washington ally and major supporter of Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Warsaw had asked Washington last year for Apache helicopters, built by Boeing, to replace its ageing Soviet aircraft.
The sale, totalling $12 billion (just over €11 billion), will improve Poland’s ability to meet current and future threats by providing a credible force capable of deterring adversaries and participating in NATO operations, the US State Department said on announcing that it had approved the sale and notified Congress.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Poland has served as a logistics hub for the US military, which has delivered huge quantities of weaponry to the Ukrainian army.
The sale of the 96 helicopters, model AH-64E, brings the United States closer to Poland at a time when relations had soured, with the Biden administration opposing the Warsaw government’s conservative positions on LGBT+ rights and press freedom, in particular.
Poland is “a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe,” the US State Department said on Monday.
