Boeing's AH-64D Apache helicopter is still a formidable rival
to Europe's Tiger. Last October, the U.S. Army endorsed a new
helicopter modernization program that includes a major upgrade
to its 500-plus Apaches, and gives Boeing an opportunity and a
strong incentive to seek more export sales.
Boeing has just delivered the first AH-64D to be completed in
the Block 2 configuration, with better computers and communications.
Apaches delivered next year will include the Lockheed Martin Arrowhead
XR-a new suite of infrared targeting and navigation equipment-and
will have provision for a new helmet-mounted display under development
by Elbit.
The last Block 2-based on a rebuilt AH-64A, like all the Army's
D-models-is due to be delivered in July 2006. Until last year,
the Army had no plans for further upgrades until the Apache is
replaced by the stealthy RAH-66 Comanche. However, as a result
of problems with the Comanche, the Army has delayed the new helicopter's
development and is now planning on a further Block 3 upgrade of
the Apache.
The new version will be produced by rebuilding AH-64Ds, but the
first aircraft won't be delivered until late 2007, leaving a 15-month
gap in production that Boeing is seeking to fill with export sales.
Potential customers include the United Arab Emirates, which is
looking to upgrade 30 AH-64As to D-models; Greece, which currently
has 20 AH-64As and is looking for 12-16 AH-64Ds; and Spain, where
Boeing has offered a lease of half-a-dozen A-models, tied to an
order for new AH-64Ds.
Block 3 is not yet fully funded, and the exact blend of technologies
in the new version has not been defined. Candidates include an
extended-range version of the APG-78 Longbow radar with an active
electronically-scanned antenna; the new Boeing-developed Joint
Tactical Radio System; composite rotor blades, and a redesigned
transmission. The avionics could be redesigned around a high-speed
open systems architecture. Other features are likely to include
blue force tracking-a new GPS-and-datalink-based identification
system-and a longer-range missile.
Apaches "saved the day and their reputation" in Operation
Anaconda, a March 2002 operation against Taliban holdouts in the
mountains of Afghanistan, remarks Brad Rounding, Boeing's U.S.
Army program manager. "A UAV was sent in and deemed the area
clear. A Chinook went in and immediately received heavy ground
fire. There were seven Apaches in the area, and 27 out of 28 rotor
blades received multiple bullet holes." One aircraft had
its infrared targeting sensor blown off by a rocket-propelled
grenade (RPG) and another flew for 30 minutes after an RPG hit
drained its transmission of oil. All were repaired in-country.
Some 170 Apaches-120 Longbows and 50 AH-64As-were operational
in Iraq and claimed 866 targets destroyed, says Rounding, citing
preliminary U.S. Army reports. These reports also indicate that
the Apache that landed in Iraqi territory on March 23, resulting
in the capture of its crew, was not brought down by an Iraqi citizen.
"They had been in battle for an extremely long time and may
have had fuel starvation." The aircraft has not been recovered.
