AH-64A/D APACHE ATTACK HELICOPTER, USA
The Apache is a twin-engined army attack helicopter developed by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing). It entered service with the US Army in 1984 and has been exported to Egypt, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. The US Army has more than 800 Apaches in service and more than 1,000 have been exported. The Apache was first used in combat in 1989 in the US military action in Panama. It was used in Operation Desert Storm and has supported low intensity and peacekeeping operations worldwide including Turkey, Bosnia and Kosovo. The AH-64D Longbow has been deployed by the US Army in Afghanistan as part of Operation Anaconda, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and, from June 2003, in South Korea.
The AH-64D Longbow is fitted with the Longbow millimetre wave fire control radar and the Longbow Hellfire missile. 300 AH-64Ds are in service with the US Army out of a total of 501 procured - 232 new build and 269 US Army AH-64A Apaches being upgraded to AH-64D standard. Deliveries are to complete in 2006. The Longbow has also been ordered by the Netherlands (30, deliveries complete), Singapore (20, first delivered in May 2002), Israel (eight) and Egypt (35). A number of AH-64A helicopters have been upgraded to AH-64D standard for South Korea. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has requested the upgrade of 30 Apaches to AH-64D longbow standard.
In August 2001, the AH-64D was selected by the Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force, with a requirement for 60 helicopters, and in September 2002, Kuwait ordered 16 AH-64D helicopters for delivery from 2005. The Kuwaiti Apaches will be equipped with BAE Systems HIDAS defensive aids system. In September 2003, Greece signed a contract for 12 (plus four options) AH-64D Longbow, also to be fitted with HIDAS.
The first of the upgraded Block II Apaches was delivered to the US Army in February 2003. Block II includes upgrades to the digital communications systems to improve communications within the "tactical internet". Block III improvements, slated for 2008 on, include increasing digitisation, the Joint tactical Radio System, enhanced engines and drive systems, capability to control UAVs and new composite rotor blade. The new blades successfully completed initial flight tests in December 2003.
WAH 64
A consortium of GKN Westland (now AgustaWestland), Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Shorts bid a version of the Longbow Apache for the UK Army attack helicopter requirement which was selected in July 1995. Assembly of the WAH-64 Longbow Apache is being carried out in the UK by AgustaWestland. The first helicopter entered service in January 2001 designated as the AH Mk 1.67 are on order for the British Army with final delivery scheduled for 2004. Initial Operating Capability is scheduled for late 2004.
WEAPONS
A 30mm automatic Boeing M230 Chain Gun is located under the fuselage. It provides a rate of fire of 625 rounds per minute. The helicopter has capacity for up to 1,200 rounds of ammunition.
The AH-64D is armed with the Lockheed Martin/Boeing AGM-114D Longbow Hellfire air-to-surface missile which has a millimetre wave seeker which allows the missile to perform in full fire and forget mode. Range is 8km to 12km. The Apache has been equipped with air-to-air missiles (Stinger, AIM-9 Sidewinder, Mistral and Sidearm) and 2.75in rockets. Thales Air Defence (formerly Shorts Missile Systems) of Belfast, Northern Ireland has trialled the Starstreak missile on the Longbow Apache helicopter, integrated with the Target Acquisition Designation Sight (TADS).
The Longbow Apache carries the combination of armaments chosen for the particular mission. In the close support role the helicopter carries 16 Hellfire missiles on four 4-rail launchers and four air-to-air missiles.
SENSORS
The AH-64D Longbow Apache is equipped with the Northrop Grumman millimetre-wave Longbow radar. The Longbow fire control radar incorporates an integrated radar frequency interferometer for passive location and identification of radar emitting threats. An advantage of millimetre wave is that it performs under poor visibility conditions and is less sensitive to ground clutter. The short wavelength allows a very narrow beamwidth which is resistant to countermeasures.
The Longbow Apache can effect an attack in thirty seconds. The radar dome is unmasked for a single radar scan and then remasked. The processors determine the location, speed and direction of travel of a maximum of 256 targets.
The Target Acquisition Designation Sight, TADS (AN/ASQ-170) and the Pilot Night Vision Sensor, PNVS (AN/AAQ-11) were developed by Lockheed Martin. The turret-mounted TADS provides direct view optics, television and three fields of view forward looking infra-red (FLIR) to carry out search, detection and recognition and Litton laser rangefinder/designator. PNVS consists of a FLIR in a rotating turret located on the nose above the TADS. The image from the PNVS is displayed in the monocular eyepiece of the Honeywell Integrated Helmet And Display Sighting System (IHADSS) worn by the pilot and copilot/gunner.
Lockheed Martin has developed a new targeting and night vision system for the Apaches, using second-generation long-wave infrared sensors with improved range and resolution for the Apache. The new system is called Arrowhead and it has a targeting FLIR with three fields of view, a dual field-of-view pilotage FLIR, a CCD TV camera, electronic zoom, target tracker and auto-boresight. The new system entered production in December 2003 and is planned to enter service with the US Army in 2005.
COUNTERMEASURES
The Apache is equipped with an electronic warfare suite consisting of: AN/APR-39A(V) radar warning receiver from Northrop Grumman (formerly Litton) and Lockheed Martin; AN/ALQ-144 infra-red countermeasures set from BAE Systems IEWS (formerly Sanders, a Lockheed Martin company); AN/AVR-2 laser warning receiver from Goodrich (formerly Hughes Danbury Optical Systems then Raytheon); AN/ALQ-136(V) radar jammer developed by ITT; and chaff dispensers. US Army Longbow Apaches were to be fitted with the ITT AN/ALQ-211 SIRCM (Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures) suite, however the availability of funding for this project is uncertain. UK AH Mk 1 Apaches will have BAE Systems Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aids Suite (HIDAS), also chosen by Kuwait. HIDAS, which includes the Sky Guardian 2000 radar warning receiver, entered service on the AH Mk 1 in July 2003.
ENGINES
The Apache is equipped with two turboshaft engines each providing 1,265kW. The American AH-64D has General Electric T700-GE-701 engines and the UK Apache is fitted with RTM322 engines from Rolls-Royce/Turbomeca.
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