WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland has cancelled the procurement procedure for the purchase of 32 more Lockheed Martin S-70i Black Hawk helicopters for the Polish Army, the Polish Armament Agency said on Friday.
“Maybe it is necessary to acquire other equipment in its (helicopters’) place such as drones, or tanks, or some kind of communication,” agency spokesman Grzegorz Polak told Reuters.
Polak added that “some correction” was needed when the geopolitical situation and state security interests required other tasks to be carried out.
Poland launched negotiations for the acquisition of 32 S-70i Black Hawk helicopters, produced by Lockheed Martin’s Polish arm PZL Mielec, in 2023 under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government.
PiS lawmaker Mariusz Blaszczak, who was defence minister in the previous government, labelled the decision a “disgrace” in a post on X, saying it would slow down the replacement of the helicopter fleet.
In August 2024 Poland signed a contract with the U.S. to buy 96 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters. Under the deal with the U.S. government the helicopters would provide new combat capabilities in terms of target engagement and reconnaissance, and will replace Poland’s post-Soviet Mi-24 helicopters.
Polak said the Armament Agency obtained equipment in accordance with Polish army plans, which are classified. It was not the Armament Agency that set procurement priorities, he added.
(Reporting by Barbara Erling, Editing by William Maclean)
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