The State Department on Monday said it has approved a potential $12 billion deal with Poland for nearly 100 Boeing [BA]-built AH-64E Apache attack helicopters and associated weapons.
The Foreign Military Sale approval follows Poland’s announcement last September it had selected Boeing as the winner of its KRUK program to find a replacement for its Mi-24 helicopter fleet.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a [NATO] ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement. “The proposed sale will improve Poland’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing a credible force that is capable of deterring adversaries and participating in NATO operations.”
Boeing beat out Bell’s [TXT] AH-1Z Viper offering for Poland’s KRUK program, with the country noting in its September 2022 announcement that it had increased the acquisition objective from 32 to 96 new helicopters (Defense Daily, Sept. 8 2022).
“Boeing is honored the Government of Poland has selected the AH-64E Apache for the Polish Armed Forces’ new attack helicopter fleet. An Apache selection strengthens U.S-Polish military ties by enhancing interoperability and cooperation between Poland, the U.S. Army and NATO nations. During the procurement process, Boeing established significant cooperative partnerships across Polish government and industry. Our partnership with the Polish Armaments Group in particular will continue to expand as we implement training and sustainment efforts with local industry,” Boeing said in a statement at the time of the announcement last year.
Mike Spencer, director of vertical lift global business development, told reporters during a media visit to the company’s Ridley Park, Pennsylvania facility in May that “industrial participation with Poland” was a key factor for the KRUK deal.
“In fact, before Poland can move forward with that buy, we have to get an agreement on what we call the industrial support plan. And that plan was delivered to Poland on May 5. And certainly, there’ll be some dialogue on that. So we look forward to continuing to work with the U.S. government as well as the Polish customer to hammer out all those issues,” Spencer said at the time.
Along with the 96 Apaches, the new FMS case also includes 210 General Electric [GE] T700 engines, 97 M-TAD/PNVS advanced electro-optical fire control systems and 37 Longbow fire control radars built by Lockheed Martin [LMT].
Poland will also receive more than 1,800 Hellfire missiles, 460 Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles, over 500 Stinger missiles and 7,650 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System-11 guidance sections.
The new FMS case also includes more than 200 AN/ARC-231A airborne radios, laser and radar signal detecting sets, automatic machine guns, rocket launchers, missile launchers, rockets, ammunition, communication systems, helmets and simulators, according to the State Department.
Boeing in March was awarded the second and expected final multi-year contract for AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from the Army, potentially worth up to $3.8 billion (Defense Daily, March 22).
The company told Defense Daily at the time it “absolutely” believes there will be future procurement deals for the platform beyond the new multi-year award.
“Right now, if you look at our multi-year [deal] and if you just added Poland on top of that, we don’t have enough there to support all the demand, so there could be some contract follow-on after the multi-year. We don’t know if it’s a multi-year or an [Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity]-type contract. But we will need something for all the demand that’s out there for the aircraft,” K.J. Jolivette, Boeing’s vice president and general manager for vertical lift, told Defense Daily during the May media visit in Ridley Park.
In late July, Boeing received a $393.1 million Apache helicopter order under the new multi-year deal, that included remanufacturing 16 of Kuwait’s AH-64D aircraft to the newer E-mode configuration and five more remanufactured AH-64Es for the U.S. Army (Defense Daily, July 31).