In Panama, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Lebanon and most recently in Gaza and the West Bank, the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter has proved itself to be a potent war machine. Early in the 1990s the US Army began a programme to modernise the Apache to ensure its effectiveness well into this century.

Central to the plans to give the Apache sharper claws was the introduction of the Longbow millimetric radar that allows the helicopter to see targets at night or in bad weather at long range, to allow missiles to be directed to their targets with pin-point accuracy. Digital communications allow the data collected by the radar to be shared with other helicopters or ground-based headquarters.

There are two main variants of the AH-64 Apache attack helicopters: the AH-64A Apache, and the next-generation version, the AH-64D. When equipped with millimetric radar, the aircraft is known as the AH-64D Apache Longbow. Without radar, it is the AH-64D Apache.

AH-64D Apache Longbow

The AH-64D Apache Longbow is the newest version of the Apache and is the only version currently in production at the Boeing company's Mesa plant in Arizona.

Production of new-build helicopters is underway for the US Army, the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the UK's Army Air Corps at a rate of six plus helicopters a month. The Mesa facility is designed to accommodate a rate of more than 12 aircraft a month in peacetime operation.

Boeing delivered the US Army's 100th Apache Longbow in December 1999. It has delivered nearly 1,100 AH-64A and AH-64D Apaches since the programme went into production in the early 1980s under the Hughes and later MacDonnell Douglas banner. Boeing has announced a commitment to the delivery of 1,000 more Apaches over the next decade. Between 1984 and 1997, 937 AH-64A Apaches were delivered, 821 to the US Army and 116 to international customers, including Egypt, Greece, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The first AH-64D Apache Longbows for the US Army were delivered in 1997. The first AH-64D Apache for the Netherlands was delivered in June 1998. All 67 of the United Kingdom's Apaches have radars. Apaches in production by GKN Westland Helicopters Limited are designated WAH-64 Apaches. The first was delivered in September 1998.

The Apache Longbow is able to rapidly detect, classify, prioritise and engage stationary or moving enemy targets at stand-off ranges in almost all weather environments. AH-64D Apache Longbows have greater weapons accuracy at longer ranges coupled with the ability to fight more effectively at night and in nearly all weather than earlier A model versions. This is the result of the integration of the Longbow fire-control radar, advanced Hellfire missiles and an advanced avionics suite. Its ability to communicate digitally with other aircraft and ground forces, and to share that information almost instantly, gives the Apache Longbow a significant advantage over current combat helicopters.

Like its predecessor, the Apache Longbow carries a lethal array of missiles and rockets and 1,200 rounds of ammunition for its 30mm M230 automatic cannon. This is produced at Mesa in the same facility as that where the Apache is assembled, flight-tested and delivered.

US Army programme

The US Army's first fully combat-ready Apache Longbow unit, the 1-227th Attack Battalion stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, became operational in November 1998. The first Apache Longbow unit also became the first to field the interactive electronic technical manual, a revolutionary Class IV computerised data storage system that eliminates the need for paper technical manuals.

The first six production AH-64D Apache Longbows were flown to Fort Hood in April 1998 aboard a C-5A transport aircraft as a demonstration of the US Army's ability to deployrapidly large numbers of Apache Longbows. The US Army unveiled the AH-64D Apache Longbow, equipped with the Longbow fire control radar, during a formal arrival ceremony at Fort Hood in June 1998.

The Boeing company is under contract with the US Army to re-manufacture 232 AH-64A to D standard over a five-year period from 1997-2002. The current programme objective calls for 227 Longbow fire-control radar mission kits to be purchased and shared around the 758-strong Apache fleet that is being upgraded to the new AH-64D baseline configuration. As of April 2000, the company had delivered 135 AH-64Ds, including 117 AH-64D Apache Longbows to the US Army. A second five-year, multi-year contract with the US Army is in final negotiations to re-manufacture an additional 269 army AH-64As into the Apache Longbow configuration through 2006.

International upgrades

In addition to its contract with the US Army, Boeing is producing 30 new AH-64D Apaches for the Netherlands and, with team-mate GKN Westland Helicopters, is building 67 WAH-64 Apache helicopters for the UK.

By April 2000, 10 AH-64D Apaches had been delivered to the Netherlands, and eight WAH-64 Apaches to GKN Westland for the UK. In 1999, Singapore announced plans to purchase eight AH-64D Apache Longbows from Boeing. Several other nations around the world also have expressed keen interest in the Apache for their defence forces.

The government of Israel and Boeing signed an agreement on 31 August 2000 that will allow the company to modify AH-64D Apache Longbows through direct commercial sales. Israel earlier announced that it plans either to upgrade 12 AH-64A Apaches from its current fleet or purchase an unspecified number of new aircraft through a

sale with the US Army. A foreign military sale (FMS) contract with the US Army for Israeli Apache Longbows was expected to be signed later in 2000, with deliveries to Israel to begin in 2004. The exact details of that agreement and the total number of Apaches ultimately to be purchased and/or upgraded have not been announced.

The government of Egypt has signed a letter of offer and acceptance with the United States Department of Defense calling for 35 of Egypt's AH-64A Apache helicopters to be re-manufactured into the AH-64D configuration. Egypt initially announced its intention to upgrade its Apaches in July 2000. The FMS contract with the army is expected to be signed this year with deliveries to Egypt scheduled to begin in July 2003. Total value of the programme - including aircraft, ordnance, spares, training and support - is expected to be approximately $400 million.

Arrowhead - Improved night vision

The US Army has selected Team Apache Systems, led by Lockheed Martin and the Boeing company, to undertake its Apache sensor helicopter modernisation programme valued at approximately $1 billion long term. The programme began with the announcement of the $80-million development (EMD) phase.

Called Arrowhead, the advanced technology forward-looking infra-red (FLIR) thermal system for the Apache will take the Apache helicopter through the next 20 years and beyond with expected operational and support-cost savings to exceed $47m per year - nearly $1 billion in total savings over the life of the system. The new design of the advanced targeting and navigation system allows Apache pilots to fly and fight in day, night and adverse weather conditions with greater safety and improved reliability.

Team Apache Systems (TAS) is a limited liability company comprising Lockheed Martin Millimeter Technologies Inc. and McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems, an indirect subsidiary of the Boeing company. The major subcontractors to TAS are Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Florida, producers of the current generation TADS/PNVS system, and the Boeing company rotorcraft unit in Mesa, Arizona, the makers of the AH-64 Apache helicopter.

"A major characteristic of the Arrowhead upgrade - the advanced technology pilotage system - gives Apache pilots the option of a switchable image intensification (I2) TV for better situational awareness. Provisions for image fusion and wide field of view (30 x 52 degree) helmet-mounted displays also are engineered into the system leaving flexibility for future improvements," explained Michael T. Donovan, vice president, Fire Control & Sensors for Missiles and Fire Control and board member of TAS.

Arrowhead uses digital video to enhance recording capability and to facilitate still-frame video imagery transmission to the ground commander or another aircraft during normal operations.

www.boeing.com