On March 16, 2023, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) of the US Department of Defense sent a notification to the US Congress about the planned upcoming sale of 800 AGM-114R2 Hellfire aircraft guided missiles to Poland through the US program of intergovernmental Foreign military Sales Foreign Military Sales (FMS). This sale is approved by the U.S. Department of State. The total cost of the proposed delivery will be $ 150 million.
One of the proto-prototype demonstrators of the Leonardo Helicopters AW149 multipurpose helicopter with suspended Hellfire guided missiles at the exposition of the MSPO-2022 Defense Industrial Exhibition in Kielce (Poland), September 2022 (c) J. Sabak / defence24.pl According to the notification.
The delivery will also include four M36 Hellfire Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM), related equipment and spare parts, as well as training and technical support. The general contractor for the delivery will be Lockheed Martin Corporation.
Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak and the representative of the Armaments Agency of the Ministry of National Defense of Poland, Lieutenant Colonel Krzysztof Platek, confirmed on social networks the submission of a request for the purchase of Hellfire missiles in the United States, saying that these missiles are designed to equip the AW149 multipurpose helicopters purchased by Poland.
Recall that in July 2022, Poland signed a contract for the purchase of 32 AW149 multipurpose helicopters manufactured by Leonardo Helicopters (as part of the Italian company Leonardo) for the Polish army aviation, with delivery in 2023-2029, and which should be assembled at the Polish company PZL-Świdnik owned by Leonardo in Svidnik. At the beginning of 2023, there were reports of Poland's plans to purchase 32 more AW149 helicopters in the future.
At the conclusion of the helicopter contract, the Polish Ministry of National Defense announced that "AW149 helicopters in a configuration that meets the needs of the Polish armed forces will be equipped, among other things, with surveillance systems, small arms, guided and unguided missiles and self-defense systems." From the very beginning in .Polish media reported that AW149 helicopters in the Polish army aviation will be armed with Hellfire missiles, and the corresponding image of the AW149 helicopter armed with these missiles with Polish identification marks was placed on a poster at the contract approval ceremony.
Official image of the Leonardo Helicopters AW149 multipurpose helicopter of the Polish Armed Forces with suspended Hellfire guided missiles (c) Ministry of National Defense of Poland
