IAF Chooses Apache AH-64E Attack Helicopter

nrj

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Re: AH-64D Apache attack helicopter

Excellent !

:dancemasti:
 

Daredevil

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Re: AH-64D Apache attack helicopter

Excellent. At least we didn't have to go through another charade. May be a new thread for this news?.
 

p2prada

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Now comes contract negotiations and then approval by the MoF. The last hurdle is the biggest.
 

W.G.Ewald

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Will Indian pilots train in the US?

Pilots train on new AH-64D Apache helicopter | Article | The United States Army
A new helicopter is coming to the Block. The 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, is the first unit in the Army to have their entire fleet of Apache helicopters replaced with the comprehensively upgraded Apache (AH-64D) Block III beginning in February.

"There are new components to the aircraft -- new head tracker, a new helmet and new flight pages," said Lt. Col. Edward Vedder, 1st Attack Reconnaissance Bn., commander. "It takes some getting used to."

The Apache Block III incorporates 26 new technologies designed to enhance the aircraft's capabilities including an updated communication system, engines, transmission and drive shaft. The composite rotor blades have also been reworked to make them more efficient and produce more lift.

"It doesn't take additional skills to fly it, but the aircraft is significantly different," said Vedder.

Because of these differences the 1-1 pilots are going back to school and receiving three weeks of training at Boeing's facility in Mesa, Ariz., where the aircraft is manufactured. The pilots get 28 hours of academics, 24 hours in the new simulator and 8.5 hours flying in the Block III helicopter. Maintenance test pilots get an additional 22 hours of academics and three additional hours in the aircraft.

"The training is packed into a busy three-week schedule," said Shawn Hopan, the training lead for Boeing's Apache program manager's office. "We only train currently qualified Apache pilots."

Even for the experienced pilots like Vedder, who has flown Apaches since 1995, the new Block III took some getting used to.

"A Block II, it has a certain level of power when you pick it up. This is totally different," explained Vedder, who has flown in all three predecessors, including the AH-64A and the AH-64D Longbow -- Block I and block II, to the Block III. "When you pick this aircraft up you are going to immediately feel the power difference and when you go into forward flight it wants to go about 150 MPH.

"It has a lot of power and is by far the most powerful and most impressive of them all," he said.

While at the Mesa facility the pilots not only became qualified on the new Apache, but also got to meet the Boeing people who designed and are building the aircraft.

"It is an excellent opportunity to come out here and learn and see everything, (to) get to see the other side where the aircraft came from," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shawn Witt. "You get to see the people behind the scenes, who put in a lot of time and energy so that we can have this piece of equipment in order to do our job."

The new Apache has a couple added features which will allow Witt and other Apache pilots to do their job in inclement weather. The helicopters now have the capability to fly in weather conditions that previously would have grounded them.

"In the past if we had to get somewhere we had to wait for the weather to clear. Now we have capability, much like the Black Hawks and Chinooks, to launch aircraft and fly in the clouds," Vedder said. "The Block III has an instrument package that rivals a 747. It is fantastic and very intuitive to fly."

But the new Apache has the ability to do something the 747 cannot.

"The Block III is able to communicate with unmanned aircraft, the pilots are able to see the UAV's video," Hopan said. "To my knowledge no other aircraft has this capability."

"Teaming up with the UAV is essentially another aircraft out there working with us to give us a better angle, better picture of what is happening," said Witt. "This makes for a better situation for the war fighters on the ground because we have more information."

But seeing what the UAV sees is not the extent of this new capability. With a couple taps on their computers the Apache pilots can take control of the UAV, eliminating the time needed to tell the UAV operator where the pilots need the UAV to "look."

"It's an extra workload for us, but it is very workable and manageable," said Witt. "It is a really good system that they have worked out here for us."

Vedder and Witt were two of the first 10 Apache pilots who went through Boeing's class on the Block III. Five were from 1-1, while the others were from Fort Rucker, Ala.

The "Gunfighters" have 70 Apache pilot slots and there are an additional 15 Apache pilot slots in the CAB. They all need the training before they can start flying the new aircraft.

Seventy-five of these pilots will get their training at the Mesa facility, while the rest will be trained at Fort Riley by a mobile training team later in 2012. This training schedule will ensure that all Apache pilots in the brigade are trained on the Block III before their next deployment.

"The Block III gives us the ability to get where we are needed very fast, much faster than we ever have before. And, with the integration of the UAV sensor we can be more informed when we show up to provide lethal effects in support of the ground forces," said Vedder." It is really going to change the game for attack aviation."
 

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U.S. Army to designate AH-64D Block III as AH-64E
Published October 24, 2012 | By admin

SOURCE: AOL DEFENCE

The Army has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday to announce that from that day on, the Block III version of Boeing Co.'s AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter will instead be designated the AH-64E. Program officials will make the announcement at this year's annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army, the largest yearly meeting of top service and industry officials.

The Army decided to replace "AH-64D Block III" with "AH-64E" after the Defense Acquisition Board, a high-level Pentagon committee, approved full rate production in August. The Army, which plans to buy 690 AH-64Es, decided the new designation is warranted because the soon-to-be "Echo" model of the Apache has so much more capability than the AH-64D Block I's and Block II's it's replacing, the first of which came into service in 1997.

The AH-64E, the first of which was rolled out last year, has a better drive train and a composite rotor that makes it fly both better and 25 knots faster than the Block II. It boasts improved open architecture avionics that will ease the way for future improvements. It also has the optional ability to control the sensors and flight of an unmanned aircraft.

It's still too early to say what the Taliban might dub the AH-64E or whether insurgents will find it scarier than the AH-64D Block II, whose crew can target and kill enemies from miles away, day or night, using a 30mm chain gun that can fire 640 rounds a minute, Hellfire missiles of both the laser- and radar-guided varieties, and unguided Hydra 70 2.75-inch rockets. A radio intercept during a firefight in Afghanistan last year revealed that the Taliban know even the AH-64D Block II as "The Monster."

U.S. Army to designate AH-64D Block III as AH-64E | idrw.org
 

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Today, RNLAF AH-64D Q-17, the demo Apache, was spotted with additional markings to celebrate 100 years of military aviation in the Netherlands next year!
 

arnabmit

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[video=youtube_share;rY4LCP7HQGc]http://youtu.be/rY4LCP7HQGc[/video]
 

Waffen SS

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@Kunal Biswas, @Singh sir why we cant use Indian made Helicopters instead of this??

We have Rudra combat helicopter,





We do also have Russian Helicopters. Do we really need Apache?



Our weapon stock is already diverse, is it possible to supply spare parts of different equipment(for same role) during war?:frusty:
 
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happy

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@Kunal Biswas, @Singh sir why we cant use Indian made Helicopters instead of this??

We have Rudra combat helicopter,





We do also have Russian Helicopters. Do we really need Apache?



Our weapon stock is already diverse, is it possible to supply spare parts of different equipment(for same role) during war?:frusty:
I second this question. Pls shed some light on this.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

SajeevJino

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I second this question. Pls shed some light on this.
Apache have No more Competitors ..It's Proven Platform Dedicated for Ground Attack with Armour and Payload .Very useful for Night attacks.It's Specially designed for Multi Missions

It's Main weapon is the 30mm M230 chain gun and the Hydra Rockets .and Which can carry upto 16 Hellfire Missile to struck the Ground Targets


Boeing: AH-64 Apache

No one Gives a Clean attack Heli like Apache
 

datguy79

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Why are people throwing around the words "battle-proven"? Yes the Apaches are all good when you are hunting down terrorists, but the ones India will deploy will be against nations with credible air forces and SAM systems. Has the Apache system ever had to face such conditions?
 

SajeevJino

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Why are people throwing around the words "battle-proven"? Yes the Apaches are all good when you are hunting down terrorists, but the ones India will deploy will be against nations with credible air forces and SAM systems. Has the Apache system ever had to face such conditions?
Once DEAD/SEAD missions Accomplished Apache goes for Kill Record ..was that MANPADS Are effective with apache
 

Kunal Biswas

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Apache purchase is related to more of diplomatic purchase and physiological warfare over enemy ( High tech Gunship ) ..

LCH is more suited to Indian needs, It will be mass produce for Army in hundreds ..

MI-35 spares are hard to come by, Russian sell there products but not able to resupply spare parts in time ..

@Kunal Biswas, @Singh sir why we cant use Indian made Helicopters instead of this??



We do also have Russian Helicopters. Do we really need Apache?



Our weapon stock is already diverse, is it possible to supply spare parts of different equipment(for same role) during war?:frusty:
I second this question. Pls shed some light on this.
 
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happy

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Apache purchase is related to more of diplomatic purchase and physiological warfare over enemy ( High tech Gunship ) ..

LCH is more suited to Indian needs, It will be mass produce for Army in hundreds ..

MI-35 spares are hard to come by, Russian sell there products but not able to resupply spare parts in time ..
Can you please amplify on the bold part??
 

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