Poland to establish Europe’s largest Apache Helicopter Service Center

On August 11, Deputy Ministers of Poland Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka and Cezary Tomczyk attended a ceremony marking the signing of executive offset agreements between Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze No. 1 and the Military Central Design and Technology Bureau and Boeing.

Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk also attended the ceremony, CE Report informs via the Ministry of National Defence of Poland's official website.

The agreements will enable the establishment of an Authorized AH-64E Guardian Apache Service Center in Europe, capable of servicing at least 96 helicopters.

“Speaking about the purchase of Apache helicopters, we are talking not only about the largest contract, but also about the establishment of the largest Apache helicopter service center in Poland. (…) The essence of major contracts is, above all, Poland’s security, the development of the Polish defence industry, but also a technological leap,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said during the ceremony.

“Today, purchases combined with offset agreements are important. The time when Poland was merely a customer is over. (…) Poland is not only spending the highest percentage of GDP on defence. These are not just purchases, but also an investment in the economy,” Deputy Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said.

“The agreements signed today guarantee employment for decades here in Łódź and Dęblin. This is what a good contract should look like. The art is not simply to buy; the art is to buy wisely, so that technology and jobs follow, and so that the purchase is comprehensive,” Deputy Minister Cezary Tomczyk said.

On August 13, 2024, Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz signed an agreement to purchase 96 Apache helicopters for the Polish Armed Forces.

The contract, worth approximately $10 billion (€9.2 billion; PLN 39.7 billion), was the largest single foreign procurement order in Poland’s history.

Photo Ministry of National Defence of Poland