Poland to build service centre as part of Apache helicopter deal

WARSAW, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Poland will establish a helicopter service centre in the central city of Bydgoszcz as part of an offset agreement with Lockheed Martin related to the purchase of 96 Apache helicopters, the defence minister said on Monday.

The Pentagon said in August that the U.S. State Department had approved the potential sale of AH-64E Apache helicopters and related equipment to Poland in a deal valued at up to $12 billion.

A plant in the central city of Lodz will also service radars and missile guidance systems for Apache helicopters, Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said.

"We want to get these helicopters as soon as possible, I believe that... it is possible to realise this contract very quickly," he told reporters after signing the offset deal in Mesa, Arizona.

Poland has made boosting its military a priority following Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.

Separately, the U.S. has signed a $2 billion direct loan agreement to support Poland's defence modernization program, the State Department said on Monday.

(Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Josie Kao)