Poland buys 800 Hellfire missiles to arm its new attack helicopters

WARSAW, Poland — The Polish government has signed a deal to purchase 800 Hellfire II missiles that are to be carried by a new fleet of attack helicopters, with a request to buy Boeing AH-64E Apaches still in the pipeline.

The contract for the sale of the missiles, which are manufactured by American firm Lockheed Martin, was inked by the Defence Ministry’s Armament Agency and U.S. Army Security Assistance Command.

The deal is worth about $150 million, according to officials. Deliveries are slated to begin this year and stretch through 2029.

Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said in a tweet Tuesday that the weapons are meant to arm “our AW149 support helicopters, and, eventually, the AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters.”

In July 2022, Poland’s government signed a deal to acquire 32 AW149 helos produced by Italy’s Leonardo. Deliveries of the aircraft are scheduled for the years 2023 to 2029. The contract includes a logistics package as well as training and simulators.

Also last year, the Polish ministry sent a letter of request to the U.S. government to purchase 96 Boeing AH-64E Apaches. Under the plan, the copters would first deploy to the military’s 18th Mechanized Division. Based in Siedlce, about 91 kilometers (57 miles) east of Poland’s capital Warsaw, the division was designated a bulwark against a potential Russian invasion, according to local defense officials.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——波兰政府签署了一项协议，购买 800 枚地狱火 II 型导弹，这些导弹将由一支新的攻击直升机队携带；同时，购买波音 AH-64E 阿帕奇直升机的请求仍在进行中。

这批导弹由美国洛克希德·马丁公司制造，国防部军备局和美国陆军安全援助司令部签署了导弹销售合同。

据官方消息，这笔交易价值约1.5亿美元。交付工作预计将于今年开始，并持续到2029年。

波兰国防部长马里乌什·布瓦什恰克周二在推特上表示，这些武器旨在武装“我们的 AW149 支援直升机，并最终武装 AH-64E 阿帕奇卫士攻击直升机”。

2022年7月，波兰政府签署协议，采购32架由意大利莱昂纳多公司生产的AW149直升机。飞机交付计划于2023年至2029年进行。合同内容包括后勤保障、培训和模拟器。

去年，波兰国防部也向美国政府递交了购买96架波音AH-64E“阿帕奇”武装直升机的请求函。根据计划，这些直升机将首先部署到波兰陆军第18机械化师。据当地国防官员称，该师驻扎在距离波兰首都华沙以东约91公里（57英里）的谢德尔采，被指定为抵御潜在俄罗斯入侵的堡垒。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。