On August 21, 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 to Poland through the US program of intergovernmental foreign military sales Foreign Military Sales (FMS) at the request of the Polish government 96 Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian combat helicopters. This delivery is approved by the U.S. Department of State. The total cost of the proposed delivery is estimated at $12 billion, including weapons, equipment, and training and technical support packages.
Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian combat helicopters from the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade of the Army Aviation of the 1st Cavalry Division of the US Army at Miroslavets Airfield in Poland, 04.04.2022 (c) Hedil Hernández / US Department of Defense
According to the notification, the proposed delivery to Poland should include, in addition to 96 Boeing AH-64E Apache combat helicopters, 37 AN/APG-78 Longbow radar stations, 1844 AGM-114R2 Hellfire guided missiles and 96 M36E8 Hellfire Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM), 460 new AGM-179A guided missiles Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM), 508 Stinger FIM-92K Block I air-to-air guided missiles, and 7650 WGU-59/B guidance modules for 70 mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS-II) guided missiles.
Recall that on September 8, 2022, Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak said that the Polish side had submitted an official request (LoR) to the US government for Poland to acquire 96 American Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian combat helicopters through the FMS program, as well as for the transfer of relevant technologies.
On May 5, 2023, during a visit to the United States, Mariusz Blaszczak announced that the US government would provide Poland with eight Apache attack helicopters, which would allow the training process for Polish crews to start on helicopters of this type before the planned signing of an intergovernmental agreement on Poland's purchase of up to 96 AH-64E Apache Guardian helicopters. As Blaszczak said, training vehicles should come from the presence of the US Army. According to subsequent reports, the US Army has allocated eight AN-64D helicopters for training Polish personnel.
According to Polish resources, as of 2022, the Polish army aviation had 15 Mi-24D and 13 Mi-24V combat helicopters, and seven W-3PL light combat helicopters, and all of them carried only unguided weapons. In June-July 2023, Poland transferred about 12 Mi-24V/D helicopters to Ukraine. The remaining combat helicopters in Poland are part of the 1st Aviation Brigade of the Ground Forces, which includes the 49th Air Base in Pruszczynski and the 56th Air Base in Inowrocław. The 96 AN-64E helicopters planned for purchase will completely replace the outdated fleet and form a total of six squadrons with a staff strength of 16 vehicles. This will allow not only to man both air bases of the 1st Aviation Brigade, but also to form a new aviation brigade, planned to be included in the newly formed 18th mechanized Division, which is planned to be turned into a semblance of American "heavy" divisions, which include a helicopter brigade.
The transition to the issue of Poland's purchase of 96 AN-64E helicopters at once was quite unexpected, since since 2016 the Polish Ministry of National Defense has been implementing a very sluggish Kruk program, according to which 32 new combat helicopters were supposed to be purchased on a competitive basis to replace the Mi-24 helicopter fleet. Although the choice for this AN-64E program was apparently predetermined from the very beginning, since other possible options looked obviously outsider (Bell AH-1Z and Leonardo AW249), however, such a sharp increase in procurement plans looks very impressive. If the program for the purchase of 96 AN-64E helicopters is implemented, Poland will become the second largest operator of Apache helicopters after the United States.
