The plan follows Poland's 2024 purchase of 96 helicopters for the army from the United States.
"Poland's fleet of 96 Apaches will be the largest such fleet in the world after the United States," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at the signing ceremony.
He added that Poland wanted the facility in the central city of Łódź to become a service centre for US helicopters not only domestically but across Europe.
"Poland's fleet of 96 Apaches will be the largest such fleet in the world after the United States," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at the signing in Łódź on Tuesday. Photo: PAP/Marian Zubrzycki
'Leap toward a secure future'
Tusk described Poland's 2024 Apache purchase agreement, worth about USD 10 billion, as a landmark defence contract and said the project would strengthen Poland's security while accelerating the technological development of the country's defence industry.
"This is a leap toward a secure future for the Polish defence industry," Tusk said.
"There are no customers and contractors here, but equal partners building Polish, European and Atlantic security," he added.
He spoke after Poland's Military Aviation Works No. 1 (WZL-1) and the Military Central Design and Technology Bureau (WCBKT) signed implementation agreements on Tuesday with Boeing covering the US company's offset commitments to Poland's defence industry under the 2024 Apache deal.
The agreements are expected to create jobs at the Łódź plant and potentially double its workforce, Tusk said.
Tuesday's agreements follow two offset deals Poland signed in August 2024 as part of its purchase of Apache helicopters.
Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk called the Apache purchase and related offset agreements a "generational change" for Poland's armed forces.
He said the agreements would guarantee employment for decades and could double the workforce at military aviation plants in Łódź and the southeastern city of Dęblin.
Tomczyk recalled the previous government's 2016 cancellation of Poland's planned purchase of French-made Caracal helicopters, which were to have been serviced in Łódź.
"At the time, it seemed that WZL would not survive, that the plant had no future," he said, crediting its employees with maintaining the facility's capabilities.
The US ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, said Tuesday's agreements marked another important step in US-Polish relations and described Poland as the United States' most important ally in NATO.
Rose said Poland was developing the capabilities needed to maintain and repair the Apache helicopters and keep them operational for decades.
Poland's new service centre will initially support its own fleet but could eventually provide services for Apaches operated by other countries, Deputy Defence Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said.
"Poland wants to be a hub for American defence companies in Europe," she said.
Poland signed its main agreement with Boeing in 2024 to acquire 96 AH-64E Apache helicopters.
The deal was accompanied by offset agreements with Boeing and industrial giant General Electric worth a combined PLN 930 million (EUR 215 million, USD 250 million).
The Boeing agreement includes seven offset commitments worth about PLN 400 million, including the transfer of capabilities to WZL-1 in Łódź for inspecting, repairing and overhauling helicopter components, according to Polish state news agency PAP.
Technical personnel will also receive training at the Military University of Technology (WAT) in Warsaw.
A separate agreement with GE Aerospace, worth about PLN 530 million, covers the maintenance, repair and overhaul of Apache turbine engines at the WZL-1 facility in Dęblin.
The Apache programme is part of Poland's broader military modernisation effort amid growing security concerns over Russia, its giant neighbour to the east. Photo: PAP/Marian Zubrzycki
The AH-64E Apache Guardian is the latest version of the US Army's main attack helicopter. It entered service in 2011 and features upgraded engines, enhanced communications and the ability to control unmanned aircraft.
The first Apache helicopters are expected to arrive in Poland in 2028.
In June last year, the first batch of leased AH-64D Apaches arrived in Poland as part of efforts to train pilots and technical staff ahead of the deployment of the country's fleet.
The Apache programme is part of Poland's broader military modernisation effort amid growing security concerns over Russia, its giant neighbour to the east.
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Source: IAR/PAP/TVP Info