{"id":63894,"date":"2026-03-11T22:09:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T21:09:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=63894"},"modified":"2026-03-26T11:21:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:21:26","slug":"poland-the-first-european-country-to-operate-both-the-soviet-hind-and-the-american-apache","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/03\/11\/poland-the-first-european-country-to-operate-both-the-soviet-hind-and-the-american-apache\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland, the first European country to operate both the Soviet Hind and the American Apache"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Polish Army has been immersed for years in a transition that is displacing its old Soviet-era weapons systems.<\/p>\n

The beginning of the decline of the AH-64 Apache in the USA and its rise in Europe<\/a><\/rel>
\nThis is how the Mil Mi-24 works: the most manufactured attack helicopter in the world<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

One of the Polish Army's most important modernization programs is the purchase of 96 AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters<\/a>, a colossal 40 billion zloty (about $10 billion) contract that will make Poland the world's second largest operator of this aircraft<\/strong>, second only to the United States, its manufacturer, which has more than 700 helicopters of this type.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Deliveries of the first AH-64E helicopters are scheduled for 2028<\/strong>, with the entire batch of 96 aircraft to be completed by 2032. To begin training Polish crews on these new attack helicopters, Poland decided to lease eight second-hand AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters from the United States.<\/strong> The lease agreement was signed in February 2025 for 300 million zlotys.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, March 10, Polish Defense Minister W\u0142adys\u0142aw Kosiniak-Kamysz<\/a> announced the arrival of the eighth and final AH-64D helicopter, stating: \"Pilot and crew training is progressing as planned. This will ensure we are ready to receive the 96 helicopters purchased from the US<\/strong> and use them to strengthen our deterrence and defense capabilities.\"<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

These eight AH-64Ds are operated by the Polish Army Ground Forces' Wojska Aeromobilne (Airmobile Force)<\/strong>, specifically the 1st Aviation Brigade, which operates from the 56th Air Base in Inowroc\u0142aw. In addition to the new Apache Longbows, this brigade, formed in March 2011, also operates Polish-made PZL W-3PL \"G\u0142uszec\" multi-purpose helicopters and Soviet-made Mil Mi-24D\/W attack helicopters<\/strong>, an aircraft known in the USSR as a \"flying tank\" due to its firepower and armor.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The Mi-24, known as \"Hind\" by NATO (above), is the world's best-selling attack helicopter.<\/a> Currently, Poland is one of only two NATO countries that still maintain this type of aircraft in active service.<\/strong> Bulgaria has six active Mi-24Vs and another six Mi-24Ds in storage. Hungary retired its last eight Mi-24P\/V helicopters from service in early February 2026<\/a>, while the Czech Republic retired its Mi-24V helicopters in 2023<\/a>, replacing them with AH-1Z Viper<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Poland is the first European country to operate both the Mi-24 Hind and the AH-64 Apache simultaneously.<\/strong> Besides this Central European country, only Egypt operates both aircraft concurrently. The first Mi-24s arrived in Poland in 1979<\/strong>, with between 40 and 50 units in service. Currently, the Polish Army operates between 16 and 18 Mi-24s of the D and W versions<\/a> (the Polish designation for the V version). These helicopters are now obsolete, and their retirement from service is planned for 2027<\/strong>, before the arrival of the AH-64E.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Inowroc\u0142aw Air Base will continue to offer the curious sight of Mi-24 Hind and AH-64 Apache helicopters flying together<\/strong>. The images we can see here were published by the 1st Aviation Brigade<\/a> and the 56th Air Base<\/a> on their respective Facebook pages. Interestingly, unlike the Hinds, which sport the characteristic Polish checkered insignia, the Apaches wear a low-visibility version<\/strong> in green, visible on their tails.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

---<\/p>\n

Photos: 1 Brygada Lotnictwa Wojsk L\u0105dowych<\/a> \/ 56. Baza Lotnicza<\/a>.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Polish Army has been immersed for years in a transition that is displacing its old Soviet-era weapons systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19534,11544],"tags":[26436,1076,26437,26439,6441,10370,10469,22288,26435],"class_list":["post-63894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-defense-portada-eng","category-army","tag-1-brygada-lotnictwa-wojsk-ladowych","tag-boeing-ah-64-apache","tag-inowroclaw","tag-inowroclaw-air-base","tag-mil-mi-24","tag-poland","tag-polish-army","tag-wladyslaw-kosiniak-kamysz","tag-wojska-aeromobilne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}