The Boeing AH-64D Apache attack helicopter will be doing a lot of flying here this week, but chances are you won't see it overhead in the afternoons. That's because the company is focusing on conducting demonstration flights with prospective customers who are attending Farnborough. This year is the first time the Longbow-equipped D-model has appeared here.

The focus on demonstrations is understandable given Boeing's estimates of the market for the D-model Apache. The company is forecasting a world market for at least 600 Ds, according to Bob Mitchell, director of Apache business development. That figure does not include the U.S. Army, which is upgrading its nearly 750 A-model Apaches.

Already, the Apache has won hard-fought competitions to supply the aircraft to the UK and to The Netherlands. Rollout and delivery of the first of 67 aircraft ordered by the UK is slated for the 28th of this month at Boeing's Mesa, Arizona, facility. All of the RTM-322-powered AH-64Ds for the UK will be equipped with the Longbow mast-mounted radar and associated equipment package.

The first of 30 Dutch Apaches rolled out last May, and a second is now in delivery. Beyond those competitions, the company believes there are good prospects for an order from Spain, and the aircraft that is being demonstrated here also will head to Turkey after the show for an attack helicopter fly-off. The stated Turkish requirement is for some 145 attack helicopters.

And to wrap up all this autumn's activity, the U.S. Army is nearing initial operational capability with the first of its D-models. The 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment is in the midst of three months of intensive company-level and battalion-level train and evaluation at Fort Hood, Texas, and will become the first combat ready Apache Longbow unit in mid-October.

Mitchell is confident even more opportunity lies ahead for the aircraft. "There are open competitions all around the world," he said in an interview with Show News. A number of Middle East national already are equipped with A models, making them likely customers for the upgraded D. "Anyone with an A model will be looking to move up to a D model," Mitchell said. In all, 139 A models were sold outside the U.S. Although Boeing will not confirm it, the aircraft also is believed to be under consideration in both Singapore and Japan as well.

Mitchell attributes the success of the aircraft to its flexibility. While it is generally considered an attack helicopter, it is competing for an Australian contract for a reconnaissance/fire support helicopter, for instance. And, he says, the aircraft is capable or responding to any number of threats. "This aircraft carries a big stick," he said. "If you build an aircraft for the big fight, then it will operate successfully across the spectrum of conflict," he said.

By Perry Bradley