Piotr Nowak/PAP

Poland’s defence minister has welcomed the US State Department’s approval of the potential sale of 96 AH-64E Apache helicopters to Poland, saying the helicopters are the “best in the world.”

Mariusz Blaszczak announced the approval of the sale on the X social media platform on Monday, adding that until all procedures were finalised and the purchased helicopters were delivered to Poland, the US Army would provide Poland with Apache helicopters from its own resources.

“We are pleased that the US State Department has agreed to sell 96 Apache attack helicopters to Poland,” he told journalists on Tuesday. “These are the best attack helicopters in the world, according to Polish soldiers, and are many times better than the Caracals.”

The Polish government abandoned plans to buy 50 French-designed Caracal helicopters in 2016.

“Ninety-six helicopters combined with Abrams tanks, of which there will be 360, will constitute an impenetrable barrier, will close the Brest Gate…” he continued, referring to the strategic strip of land, roughly 80 kilometres long, on Poland’s border with Belarus.

“They will realistically and effectively deter an aggressor from invading the territory of Poland.”