AH-64 Apache in US service

The AH-64A's introduction to service was not entirely smooth. Unit costs had rising sharply from projections and made the Apache a target in Congress, though it also had its powerful defenders in the legislature. To make matters more difficult, it was of course a complicated machine and suffered its fair share of teething problems, particularly cracking of blades due to a manufacturing glitch, leading to bad publicity.

System reliability for the Apache was initially only 3.83 hours, but given the complexity of the system that was expected and in fact the specification required only an MTBF of 2.8 hours. The MTBF has crept upward to over four hours.

In service, the Army devised tactics in which Apaches operated in groups of four that could split into twin teams. They could operate in conjunction with "forward air controllers (FACs)" on the ground or in the air that spotted targets for the gunships, and cooperate with Air Force Fairchild A-10 "Warthog" tank-buster aircraft. Teaming the Apache with the Warthog resulted in a lethal combination that was substantially more effective than either weapon operating on its own.

The first operational use of the Apache was in OPERATION JUST CAUSE, the American invasion of Panama to oust Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega in late 1989. Their actual use in combat during this operation was somewhat minimal, though several were hit by ground fire and the gunships fired two Hellfires into Noriega's headquarters building.

The Apache came into its own during the Gulf War in 1991, when a US-led coalition drove the forces of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait after his seizure of that country in 1990. In fact, the Apache began the air war of OPERATION DESERT STORM, as the effort was designated, on the dark hours of the morning of 17 January 1991, when they took out three Iraqi radar stations to allow air strike packages to fly through Iraqi air defenses undetected.

Apaches conducted further combat operations up to the beginning of the 100-hour ground war on 24 February 1991, when they went to work supporting the ground offensive. One US commander observed that he had expected the Apache crews to go through a learning curve in combat, but found that their peacetime training had made them perfectly competent at their lethal job: "The Apache crews quickly and methodically killed enemy formations in order of priority -- tanks with Hellfires, BMPs [Soviet-built infantry support vehicles] with rockets and 30-mm, and wheeled vehicles with 30-mm."

Some of the crews had never actually fired a live Hellfire before, with their training in that respect restricted to simulators. The training turned out to be effective, though the simulators were not entirely accurate. Some of the crews were startled and frightened (in combat the two are about the same thing) by the fact that the Hellfire had a two-second launch delay after pulling the trigger, and also generated a fair flash on launch. Simulators were modified after the war to provide more realistic behavior.

277 Apaches served in DESERT STORM. They destroyed about 500 Iraqi tanks, along with large numbers of other ground vehicles, artillery pieces, and nonflying aircraft. The campaign put an end to most of the doubts about the Apache.

The Apache continued to serve in the various "little dirty wars" of the post-Cold-War era. The AH-64A flew missions in the northern "no-fly" zone set up in Iraq after the conflict, in principle to help protect the local Kurdish population from Saddam Hussein though it didn't always work out that way. In 1995 and 1995, US Army Apaches were sent to Bosnia in the former Yugoslavia to help enforce a cease-fire between the warring factions there, which they did with a minimum of violence. The Apaches strongly helped emphasize that taking on the peacekeeping force in the country would be unwise, and nobody wanted to try it. The Apache served in the US intervention in Afghanistan in the winter of 2001:2002, providing major service in fighting with Taliban and al-Qaeda forces.

The AH-64's most recent combat action was in the American invasion of Iraq in the spring of 2003. They suffered badly in the Iraq campaign, with all 32 Apaches dispatched to one attack shot up and one of them shot down. This incident suggested to critics that the day of the manned helicopter gunship is ending and that it will soon be replaced by fixed-wing or rotary-wing robot gunships. Defenders of gunships reply that the fiasco was mostly due to unimaginative tactics plus the fact that the enemy had been alerted that the Apaches were coming. They further pointed out that most of the shot-up Apaches were back in service in a short time, since the type had been designed to absorb significant battle damage and go on fighting.

The Apache AH-64D

Although the AH-64A's service in the Gulf War in 1991 had been outstanding, the conflict still demonstrated that the machine had clear deficiencies. Its obsolescent analog navigation, sensor, targeting, and other avionics systems were simply not up to modern warfare. Apaches had to rely on special-operations Sikorsky Blackhawks and other platforms with modern avionics to lead the gunships to targets.

The Apache's Hellfire missile had also demonstrated some deficiencies, for example in some cases homing off laser reflections from the sand and going into the dirt. The problems with the missile were quickly addressed. After the war, the Army fielded the improved "AGM-114K Hellfire II" variant, with a much smarter laser seeker and autopilot, more lethal warhead, and apparently longer range.

Improvements to the Apache itself were a bit more time-consuming to implement. McDonnell Douglas had proposed an improved Apache designated the "AH-64B" in the later 1980s and the Army also considered a upgrade program, but these efforts went nowhere because new technologies were becoming available that rendered the proposed improvements obsolete even before they got to the hardware implementation stage.

After the Gulf War the new technologies finally seemed mature enough to allow an upgrade program to go ahead. An "AH-64A+" upgrade program was proposed after the conflict. It was to be an incremental upgrade of 254 AH-64As featuring new rotor blades and improved avionics including a new navigation system with a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite receiver and a backup inertial navigation system (INS); engine sand filters, since the Gulf War had demonstrated the necessity of such things in a desert environment; secure communications; and a datalink.

However, the AH-64A+ was cancelled in 1992, since the Army decided to go ahead with a much more capable "AH-64D" upgrade program. The development program for the AH-64D was given the green light in August 1990. Initial flight of the first of five AH-64D prototypes was on 15 April 1992, and a production contract was signed in 1996. Delivery of the first production AH-64D to the US Army was in the spring of 1997.

The AH-64D features a largely revised avionics suite, including:

• Modernized cockpits, with the dashboard for each crewperson featuring twin 15 by 15 centimeter (6 by 6 inch) multifunction displays (MFDs) and a great simplification of the old switch-and-dials control layout. Development and evaluation machines had monochrome displays, but production machines have full-color displays.
• A Plessey AN/ASN-157 Doppler radar navigation system, a Honeywell AN/APN-209 radar altimeter, and a dual GPS-INS navigation system. The GPS-INS system is regarded as a major advance over the old HARS system.
• Improved voice radios and an "MD-1295A Integrated Data Modem (IDM)" to permit relay of combat data from other platforms.
• A new Hamilton Standard processor system with a "Data Transfer Module (DTM)" capability that allows mission plans to be simply "plugged in" to the helicopter, along with dual MILSTD-1553B digital avionics buses.

The AH-64D can be distinguished from the AH-64A by large "cheek" fairings to accommodate the new avionics. Electrical power capacity has been doubled.

A portion of the AH-64Ds feature a rotor-mast-mounted drum to support the "Longbow" system, used to target the improved AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire missile. The Longbow system includes an "AN/APG-78 Fire Control Radar (FCR)" and an "AN/APR-48A Radio Frequency Interferometer (RFI)" passive emitter location system.

The Longbow system provides a better all-weather / day-night targeting system than TADS, permitting engagements at longer range with much less risk of firing on friendly forces. There were a number of such "friendly fire" incidents in the Gulf War, with Apaches scoring "kills" on US armored vehicles.

The mast mount for the Longbow also allows the Apache to target adversaries from cover in the treetops, a tactic impossible with the nose-mounted TADs. There had been thought of mast-mounting TADS back in the beginning of the Apache program, but such a fit was judged beyond the technology of the time. The Longbow radar can handle twelve targets simultaneously, with Longbow Hellfires tracking targets autonomously after launch. Both ground and airborne targets can be engaged.

Comparative tests of the AH-64A and AH-64D were performed at Fort Hunter-Liggett in California in the spring of 1995 and demonstrated just how big an advance the AH-64D really was. AH-64As were credited with 75 kills of adversary targets, along with losses of 28 gunships and 34 kills on friendly targets. AH-64Ds scored 300 kills on adversary targets, losing only four machines and inflicting no "friendly fire" kills. A British officer who qualified on the AH-64D in 1996 described the contrast between the old and new variants: "There's just no comparison."

The Apaches with Longbow radar are designated "AH-64D Longbow" Apaches, while those without Longbow are simply AH-64Ds. Confusingly, up to late 1993, the two updated variants were the "AH-64D" and the "AH-64C", but for whatever reason the Army decided not to use the AH-64C designation. The dividing line between the two subvariants is small, since an AH-64D can be field-upgraded to the AH-64D Longbow configuration in a few hours.

The exact number of AH-64Ds to be rebuilt from AH-6As is a bit confusing to pin down, as is the number of AH-64Ds to carry the Longbow system. The US Army had considered upgrading all its AH-64A helicopters to AH-64D configuration and putting Longbow radars on a third of them. However, the Army decided that they wanted more Longbow Apaches, and so decided only convert 501 AH-64As to AH-64Ds. This is somewhat short of the 600-Apache AH-64D fleet that the Army desires. Those AH-64As not upgraded to AH-64D spec will be passed on to the Army National Guard to replace AH-1 Cobras.

About half of the AH-64Ds will be fitted with uprated T700-GE-701C turboshafts engine. Apaches are also being fitted with an airbag system to protect the crew, with the update program for the airbags beginning in 1997. Another upgrade program is a blade-folding system, with initial deliveries of blade-folding kits in 2003.

Another effort is finally to qualify an AAM for the Apache, involving a competition between the Stinger and Starstreak missiles. The Starstreak is favored. Although early trials of AAMs on the Apache mounted the missiles on the outer wing stores pylons, work has been done to fitting a two-round box launcher to each wingtip. These AAMs are lightweight -- they have to be, they were originally designed to be carried by infantry -- and there is no good reason to carry them on a stores pylon that could be used to carry heavier stores.

In addition, the Army is now implementing the "Arrowhead" program to replace TADS/PVNS with an improved sensor system. The Arrowhead sensor system has a configuration similar to that of TADS/PVNS, but uses the latest sensor technology to reduce maintenance, improve reliability, and permit accurate Hellfire targeting at maximum range. The new targeting FLIR has three fields of view, with the gunner using a new LCD display panel, while the piloting FLIR has two fields of view. The system also includes a zoom CCD TV camera, a laser rangefinder and spot tracker, and automatic target tracking and boresighting. Production began in late 2003, with service entry in 2005. 704 Apaches will receive the Arrowhead in all.

The Army had expected to acquire over 1,200 Boeing Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche scout / attack helicopters to replace the Apache, but the Comanche program gradually ran out of steam, suffering cutbacks in 2002 and then getting the axe completely in 2004. This means that the AH-64D will need to stay in service longer than previously expected, and in the summer of 2005 the US Army signed a "Block 3" update program to keep the AH-64D Longbow Apache in service. The Block 3 upgrade will include:

• A new composite tail boom and composite rotors with a 10,000 hour lifetime.
• Further uprated T700-GE-701D engines, with an uprated power transmission system to keep pace. Moving to this version of the engine would provide commonality with updated Army Sikorsky S-70M Blackhawks. The older -701 and -701C engines can be field-updated to -701D standard with an upgrade kit.
• A Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS or "Jitters"). A Jitters radio is software-programmable and can communicate with a wide range of existing radio sets.
• Ability to control unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
• Longbow radar with twice the range, and an "intelligent" mission processor system.

Production of the Block 3 Apache is expected to begin in 2010. What follows the Apache is unclear; the general drift at present is toward a UAV helicopter gunship.

The Apache in foriegn service

The AH-64A was exported to a number of nations:

• Egypt obtained an initial batch of 24, with deliveries in 1995, followed by another batch of 12.
• Greece bought 12, with initial delivery in 1995.
• Israel ordered 19 new-build machines, with initial delivery in 1991, and obtained 24 ex-US Army machines in 1993 as a reward for not intervening in the Gulf War, which would have complicated American relations with Arab allies. The Israelis call the machine the "Petan (Cobra)", which must be a bit confusing since they also obtained the Bell AH-1. They have used the Apache for attacks on Hizbollah fighters in south Lebanon and, more recently, in their squabbles with the Palestinians.
• Saudi Arabia obtained 12, delivered in 1993.
• The United Arab Emirates obtained 20, all delivered in 1993:1994.

The AH-64D is also getting sales on the export market. The Dutch ordered 30 AH-64Ds in 1995. They leased 12 US Army AH-64As for training in 1996. First AH-64D delivery was in 1998, with final delivery in 2003. Although the machines were delivered with a US-style defensive countermeasures suite, the Dutch decided that this fit was becoming dated and awarded a contract to Terma of Denmark to provide an updated countermeasures system.

The new suite is built around a Terma AN/ALQ-213(V) integrated threat controller, with new color cockpit threat displays, and new threat warning systems and flare dispensers. The AN/ALQ-144 IRCM is being replaced by a Northrop Grummand Guardian laser-based "Directed Energy IRCM (DIRCM)". The new countermeasures suite was fitted to Dutch Apaches sent to Afghanistan for policing duties.

Britain also ordered the type in 1995, with the first of 67 Briticised "WAH-64" Apache helicopter gunship for Britain's Army Air Corps performing its first flight at GKN Westland's Yeovil facility in July 2000. The first eight in the set were built by Boeing's Mesa, Arizona, factory, and the rest are to be assembled from kits by GKN Westland at Yeovil in the UK. Introduction to line service was in May 2005, with the Army Air Corps having 16 in the inventory at the time, and deliveries are to be complete in 2007. The WAH-64 will replace the Westland Lynx in the anti-armor and attack roles.

The WAH-64 is generally similar to the AH-64D Longbow Apache, but has a number of unique features:

• Fit of Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322 turboshaft engines with full authority digital engine control. While the RTM322s can provide up to 1,565 kW (2,100 HP) for takeoff, they are limited by the WAH-64's power transmission system, which is the same as the US version, to 1,410 kW (1,890 HP).
• Provision for launch of British Bristol Aerospace CRV-7 70 millimeter unguided rockets from 19 round pods. The WAH-64 retains the 30 millimeter Chain Gun and Hellfires. All British WAH-64s will have the mast-mounted Longbow radar.
• Manual blade folding and main rotor de-icing. The original AH-64A had de-icing, but this was deleted in the AH-64D. A backup fly-by-wire (FBW) system that was fitted to the AH-64A but deleted in the AH-64D has also been restored to the WAH-64D. The backup FBW system provides a basic "get back home" capability if the main system is disabled.
• Some British avionics systems, including radio and IFF sets, and a completely new "Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aids System (HIDAS)", replacing the more modest defensive countermeasures suite of the AH-64D. HIDAS includes:
• A Lockheed Martin ultraviolet-infrared AN/AAR-57 Common Missile Warning System (CWMS).
• A Lockheed Martin AN/APR-48 radar frequency interferometer for emitter targeting.
• A BAE Systems Sky Guardian 2000 Radar Warning Receiver and Type 1223 laser-warning system, linked for automatic control to Vinten chaff-flare dispensers.
Provision has been made for eventual fit of an infrared jammer system, such as the new Northrop AN/AAQ-24 Nemesis Directed Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) system.

Other nations have acquired or are acquiring the AH-64D:

• Singapore ordered eight AH-64Ds in 1999, and in the late summer of 2001 announced that options would be exercised for 12 more. The first was delivered in the spring of 2002.
• Also in 1999, the Japanese Defense Agency selected the AH-64D Longbow Apache to replace the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force's (JGSDF) 88 current Fuji-Bell AH-1S Cobra helicopter gunships. The first Japanese Apaches will be built by Boeing at the Mesa, Arizona, facility, and shipped to Japan. The rest will be built by license by Fuji in Japan. The initial order is for a dozen Apaches, with as many as 60 helicopters in the total order. The JGSDF wanted to replace their Cobras on a one-for-one basis, but the funds were simply not available.
• In 1999, the Israelis ordered the rebuild of 24 of their AH-64As to AH-64D standard, though only 12 were to get Longbow radar. In early 2001, Israel ordered nine more AH-64Ds from Boeing, presumably as upgrades. The first three were delivered in the spring of 2005.
• At the end of 2001, Egypt signed a deal for upgrading 34 of their AH-64As to AH-64D standard, with initial redelivery of the machines in 2003. These upgrades did not include Longbow radar.
• The Kuwaiti government ordering 16 Apaches in 2002, along with Hellfire missiles and other kit. They feature the British HIDAS defensive countermeasures kit. Initial deliveries were in 2005.

Some sources claim over a thousand Apaches have been exported, but a tally of the export numbers given above shows the actual total to be about 300.

Author: Greg Goebel