• The deal: Poland signed agreements with Boeing to build Europe's largest authorised Apache service centre in Łódź, able to maintain at least 96 AH-64E helicopters and doubling employment at state-owned Military Aviation Works No. 1.

  • The fleet: Poland ordered its Apaches in a 2024, $10.8bn deal, the largest single foreign military purchase in Polish history, giving it the world's largest Apache fleet outside the US; deliveries begin 2028, following current use of eight leased AH-64Ds.

  • The ambition: The Boeing deal follows earlier Lockheed Martin agreements on Apache maintenance in Łódź, with Deputy Defense Minister Sobkowiak-Czarnecka saying Poland wants to be "a hub for American defense companies in Europe," alongside domestic production of Hydra rockets.