WASHINGTON - The US Department of State has signed off on the sale of 32 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets to Poland in a deal valued at $6.5 billion, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a press release on Wednesday.
"Poland has requested to buy thirty-two (32) F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL) Aircraft and thirty-three (33) Pratt & Whitney F-135 Engines," the release said. "The estimated cost is $6.5 billion."
DSCA delivered the required certification notifying the US Congress of this possible sale on Tuesday, the release said.
In May, Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said he hoped to accelerate talks link with the US side on the sale of F-35s to Poland.
Earlier this year, the Polish military rolled out a $48.5 billion framework to modernise the country's armed forces link up to the year 2026, envisioning replacing Poland's stocks of Soviet-era Su-22 and MiG-29 fighters with 32 Lockheed Martin F-35s. The planes normally have an estimated price tag of between $94 million and $122 million apiece. -Sputnik