Poland has named US Lockheed Martin Corp's F-16 Fighting Falcon the winner of a three-way tender to supply 48 combat jets in a $3.5 billion deal, eastern Europe's largest ever defence order.
Lockheed, with its Block 52 F-16 C/D model powered by F-100-229 engines from United Technologies unit Pratt & Whitney, beat two European rivals to land its first major contract in post-communist Europe.
The F-16 fought off French Dassault Aviation's Mirage 2000-5 Mk 2 and the Anglo-Swedish Jas-39 Gripen, built by BAE Systems and Saab.
The order is a triumph for a lobbying drive led by President George W. Bush and deals a blow to Europe's aerospace industry just two weeks after the European Union invited Poland and nine other countries to join in 2004.
Defence Minister Mr Jerzy Szmajdzinski dismissed criticism that Poland, a NATO member since 1999, had bowed to US pressure and said the best package of planes and reciprocal investments in Polish industry had won the day.
"Poland based its decision on merit, not politics," he told a news conference. "This deal guarantees our ability to participate in NATO operations and increases our security."
The F-16s will be delivered between 2006 and 2008, enabling Poland to scrap its obsolete Soviet-built MiGs, some of which have been in the air since the 1960s.
Lockheed, backed by a $3.8 billion US government loan which foresees interest-only payments through 2010, said it won fair and square on technical and financial grounds.
"It's the entire package. I am convinced that we do have the world's best airplane, and the strength of the F-16 industrial team is its credibility in delivering on its promises," Mr George Standridge, Lockheed's Poland campaign director said.
US Air Force Lt. Gen Tome Walters, head of overseas arms sales, praised Poland for running a "world-class" tender: "Poland ran a very honest and transparent tender process," he said.