"The US Congress has approved the purchase by Poland of 96 Apache helicopters, complete with radars and missiles," Mariusz Błaszczak said in a tweet on Wednesday.
"We are now starting price negotiations," he added.
"Until the procedures are completed and the purchased helicopters are delivered to Poland, the US Army will provide us with Apache helicopters from its own stocks," he also said.
The announcement came after Błaszczak last month said that the US State Department had greenlighted the deal.
The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in August that the US State Department had authorized the sale of 96 Apache helicopters and related equipment for an estimated cost of USD 12 billion.
According to the US State Department, Poland has requested to buy 96 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters together with equipment such as 1,844 AGM-114R2 Hellfire missiles, 460 AGM-179A Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM) and 508 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The planned deal "will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe," the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.
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," the DSCA said in a statement last month.
It added that "Poland will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces."
The Polish defence minister said at the time that the purchase would strengthen his country's air defence capabilities.
Błaszczak told reporters in May that the United States would provide Poland with eight Apache helicopters from its own stocks to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, until Warsaw buys its own machines.
The US Congress earlier this year cleared the sale of 800 Hellfire missiles to Poland.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Wednesday is day 560 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: IAR, PAP, dsca.mil