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General Descriptions

The Boeing AH-64 Apache is a four-blade, twin-engine

attack helicopter with a tail wheel-type landing gear, and a

tandem cockpit for a two-man crew. The Apache was

developed by Hughes Helicopters for the United States

Army's Advanced Attack Helicopter program to replace the

AH-1 Cobra. The AH-64 was introduced to U.S. Army

service in April 1986.

The AH-64 Apache features a nose-mounted sensor suite

for target acquisition and night vision systems. It is armed with a 30-millimeter M230 Chain Gun carried between the main landing gear, under the aircraft's forward fuselage. It has four hardpoints mounted on stub-wing pylons, typically carrying a mixture of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and Hydra 70 rocket pods. The AH-64 has a large amount of systems redundancy to improve combat survivability.

The AH-64, by Hughes Helicopters was approved for full production in 1982. McDonnell Douglas continued production and development after purchasing Hughes Helicopters from Summa Corporation in 1984. The first production AH-64D Apache Longbow, an upgraded version of the original Apache, was delivered to the Army in March 1997. Production has been continued by Boeing Defense, Space & Security; over 1,000 AH-64s have been produced to date.

Apart from the U.S. Army, the primary operators of the AH-64; also include Greece, Japan, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

History

In1972, the United States Army sought an aircraft to fill an anti-armor attack role. The Army wanted an aircraft with better firepower, performance and range. So, the U.S. Army issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for an Advanced Attack Helicopter (AAH) on 15 November 1972. Proposals were submitted by Bell, Boeing Vertol/Grumman team, Hughes, Lockheed, and Sikorsky. After evaluating the test results, the Army selected Hughes' YAH-64A over Bell's YAH-63A in 1976 for its more damage tolerant four-blade main rotor and more stable landing gear.

The AAH program in phase II called for building three pre-production AH-64s, and upgrading the two prototypes up to the same standard. Weapons and sensor systems were integrated and tested during this time, including the laser-guided AGM-114 Hellfire missile.

In 1981, three pre-production AH-64As were handed over to the U.S. Army for Operational Test II. The Army testing was successful and it was approved for full scale production in 1982. In 1983, the first production helicopter was rolled out at Hughes Helicopter's facility at Mesa, Arizona. The average unit total cost was approximately US $29,471,038 in 2012.

In April 2006, Boeing was awarded a US$67.6 million fixed-price contract for the remanufacture of several existing U.S. AH-64As to the AH-64D configuration; between May 2009 and July 2011, a further five contracts were issued to remanufacture batches of AH-64As to the upgraded D variant. The Apache's effectiveness against ground forces and in urban

warfare

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