Boeing is preparing for a November limited user test (LUT) of its new AH-64 Apache Block III aircraft equipped with a new avionics suite.

“This is the first time Army operators will be flying an aircraft with Level Four UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] control,” said Al Winn, Boeing’s vice president of Apache programs, during the Association of the U.S. Army symposium Oct. 5.

The Level 2 capability, called VUIT-2, has been added as a kit to the Apache and only allows the crew to view incoming video. Level 4 is integrated into the Block III avionics, allowing use of the existing cockpit controls and displays to manage the UAV’s flight path, control its payload, and launch its weapons. Future Apache Block III pilots will have been trained on both the unmanned system as well as the helicopter, Winn noted.

The November limited user test will support a decision on low-rate initial production in April 2010. Following LUT, the two aircraft flown in the test will return for installation of the -701D engines, face-gear transmission and composite rotor blades to test the complete Block III upgrade.

Winn indicated Boeing’s Mesa, Ariz., factory will require some preparation. “We’ll still be building Block II aircraft during the LRIP for Block III,” he said. For 2.5 years, the aircraft will be built concurrently on separate lines. “Once we have the Block III cycle time down, we’ll re-merge the lines,” he said.

Fielding of the first Block III Apache is scheduled for June 2011. The 53 aircraft planned for low-rate initial production will be remanufactured; beginning with the 54th helicopter in April 2013, the upgrade program will switch to new-build airframes for full-rate production.

Photo: Boeing