Boeing to build Apache helicopters for Poland as part of $4.7 billion contract

(Reuters) -Boeing said on Wednesday it will produce AH-64E Apache attack helicopters for international customers, including 96 for the Polish Armed Forces, under a foreign military sales contract worth nearly $4.7 billion awarded by the U.S. Army.

Deliveries are expected to begin in 2028, Boeing said. Poland's order represents the largest number of Apache aircraft ordered outside the United States in the program's history.

The Polish Ministry of National Defence, which currently leases eight aircraft from the U.S. Army, is already training pilots and maintainers on the attack helicopter, Boeing said.

More than 1,300 Apaches are currently operational globally, according to Boeing.

The Pentagon had said on Tuesday Boeing had won two contracts valued at over $7 billion, including the $4.7 billion Apache contract and another $2.4 billion Air Force deal for Lot 12 Production Aircraft, G081, subscriptions and licenses.

Boeing has in recent months delivered new Apache aircraft to international defense forces, including the Australian Army, the Indian Army and the Royal Moroccan Air Force.

(Reporting by Parth Chandna in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)