AH-64E Apache attack helicopter

pmaitra

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AH-64D Apache Longbow Block III Rollout Ceremony

AH-64D Apache Longbow Block III Rollout Ceremony

A Native American of the Apache Tribe blessing the aircraft.

A rollout ceremony for the AH-64D Apache Longbow Block III, the Army's next-generation attack helicopter, was held at dawn on Nov. 2 in Mesa, Ariz. The Apache Block III is the next evolution of the world's most lethal attack helicopter and resets the aircraft to 21st century technology. The new Apaches will be stronger, faster and less constrained in extreme combat conditions.

The White Mountain Apache Tribe joined the celebration by conducting a solemn ceremony honoring Apache ancestors and bestowing an Indian blessing for strength and endurance on the newest evolution of this Apache helicopter.

 
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Galaxy

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Boeing set to get $1.5 bn deal to supply 22 Apaches to India

Nov 11, 2011

New York: The Indian government is "signaling" that it is likely to award a $1.5 billion contract to America's Boeing for 22 AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters for the Indian air force, said a US report.

Although the Russian Mi-28N Night Hunter was offered at a flyaway cost of $600 million, India is understood to have rejected the Russian offer mostly on technical grounds, leaving the American AH-64D manufactured by Boeing as the sole bidder.

"The US Army rotorcraft, which is said to have outperformed the rival Russian Mi-28N Night Hunter in tests, was strongly recommended by the Indian Air Force earlier this year as its choice following trials in 2010," reported "Aviation Week."

According to defense experts, India has been dragging its feet in ordering the US helicopter as sole bidder programs are extensively regulated under new anti-corruption policies. The Indian Air Force and Boeing are waiting on the Cabinet Committee on Security to give the final approval.



An IAF trial team member, told "Aviation Week," that the "The Apache scored consistently over Mi-28 in several key operational criteria. Broadly, these fell under the categories of electronic warfare, survivability, situational awareness in the cockpit, night-fighting capabilities, sensor efficacy and weapons. The helicopter was also found to be far more maneuverable. We worked directly with Boeing and the US Army to test this helicopter."

Boeing declined to get drawn into the dogfight between the Apache and the Russian Night Hunter telling Firstpost the Indian defense ministry had not commented on the outcome of the competition.

Still, Boeing has friends in high places including the US government pressing its case. Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary for Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, told the Defense Trade Advisory Group on Wednesday that, "I have advocated for our tenders in the Attack Helicopter and Heavy Lift Helicopter competitions. We are hopeful that both will be selected."

Defense experts said selecting the Apache AH-64D will also pave the way for India to receive the AGM-114L-3 Hellfire Longbow anti-tank guided missile for the first time. "The failure of the Russian helicopter also means a setback for the two companies counting on providing the weapons for the helicopter – European MBDA Missile Systems and Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems," said defense technology portal "Defense Update." Both the firms competed on supplying the missiles for the Russian helicopters.

India is looking to spend over $50 billion over the next five years to modernise its army with largely Soviet-era equipment. India had long focused its military planning on Pakistan, and Pakistan-based militants, but it is now growing more concerned about feuding with China over the disputed Sino-Indian border, where China claims large tracts of Arunachal Pradesh.

India's defense budget, which is roughly $32 billion for the year ending 31 March, has increased 151 percent in the past decade. Given the hostile neighbourhood that India is wedged in, the government expects military spending to grow at about 8.33 percent annually in the coming years.

Boeing set to get $1.5 bn deal to supply 22 Apaches to India | Firstpost
 

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Military Channel - Top 10 Helicopters pt 5 .....

 
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Patriot

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Apache 'last man standing' in Indian attack helo trial


Charles Burke, Director of Business Development for Boeing's Global Strike Rotorcraft said at the Dubai Air Show held last week, "Well, we've heard from the Indian government that the Apache's the last man standing."

The Boeing-built Apache Ah-64D is the only surviving aircraft in the Indian Air Force (IAF) tender for 22 attack helicopters. Charles Burke, Director of Business Development for Boeing's Global Strike Rotorcraft said at the Dubai Air Show held last week, "Well, we've heard from the Indian government that the Apache's the last man standing. The Indian government and in the press they said that the Apache is the only aircraft that's being evaluated right now," explaining, "We looked around – there are no other aircraft. And we know there are no other aircraft and we know that they are talking to us and evaluating our contracts, our proposals and nobody else."


Earlier this month the US Army took delivery of the first, latest model Block III Apache. Burke says this latest model is also the one being offered to the IAF. The aircraft has also recently demonstrated the ability to allow its pilot to control Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). "The Indian government will get the Block III Apache – all of the improvements." In fact, the Boeing brought a prototype of the Block III to India to undergo flight trials by the IAF. "We took an aircraft – a prototype of a Block III aircraft that had all the performance enhancements on it – we took it and we flew it in India (for the trials)."

The IAF held trials for the attack helicopter competition in July, 2010. The Russian Mi-28 was also competing in the trials. Recent reports by Russian news agency, Ria Novosti indicated the Mi-28 to have failed the IAF trials, something that StratPost confirmed independently from Russian sources.

Last year, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified the US Congress of the possible sale of Apache helicopters to India at an estimated cost of USD 1.4 billion.

Boeing shipped the aircraft to India in a commercial 747 and assembled it here. It was flown in India for around two weeks by IAF pilots. "And then, also – last year we brought the Indian pilots into the United States for weapons trials. And we fired a fire and forget missile and we operated the radar and everything," said Burke.

Declining to speculate on where the competing Russian Mi-28 helicopter might have fallen short, he said, "We did all the missions that they asked and there were no failures."

Part of the reason for this could be the level of maturity of the aircraft, as described by Burke. "So all of those technology insertions that we have in that aircraft are technologies we've been working on since about 1997. We continued to mature all those technologies so by the time it came time to develop a development program in 2005 the technologies – we took them from TRL (Technology Readiness Levels) of about 5 or 6 – we took to TRL levels 9, which means they're mature enough to put in an aircraft," he said.

The Longbow radar


The Longbow radar was developed by Longbow LLC, a collaboration between Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

The Longbow system – specifically the Longbow is the Longbow radar – the fire control radar which is the dome on top of the aircraft. And that's a millimeter wave radar that essentially scans the battlefield on a 90 degree arc in front of the aircraft – you can drive it 270 degrees off the nose of the aircraft. And out to eight kilometers 'cos that's the range of the missile.




it's 55 square kilometers that the radar radiates and it does it with a two bar scan and it looks for militarily significant targets which will be wheeled vehicles, tracked vehicles, radars, air defense units, helicopters or fixed wing. And then it begins to build track files on all the information it sees, out to 55 square kilometers. And these track files become targets. So it can process 1028 targets. It displays the top 256 of those targets on the multi-functional display so the closest targets (are) on the multi-functional display. It takes the top threatening 16 of those targets, transmits that targeting information to the 16 fire and forget missiles, and it does all that in 6.6 seconds.

And that aircraft – (also) the reason the US Army has a ratio of radar to attack helicopters is 1 to 3 – can also send that targeting information to three other aircraft in the flight. And when the other aircraft – the other D models get that information, it gets the target files that's off his nose, that's oriented in the direction he's looking. So it does all that in 6.6 seconds.


The flight path

Burke and his team plan to increase the range of the radar to enable the Apache helicopter to operate below the horizon.

We're making improvements to that radar to go out out to 16 kilometers. And the army has a program to develop a missile to go out to 16 kilometers. The advantage of that in a flat, desert environment, or over the maritime area: these Apaches generally fly low level, so the altitude they're flying at the curvature of the earth is about 14 kilometers. So with this radar and with the avionics package you got on it, it's possible to transmit target information to the aircraft well outside the range of enemy weapons systems. The aircraft can maneuver below the horizon, get to a position of advantage, break the horizon with just the radar – 6.6. seconds – drop below the horizon, fire sixteen hellfire missiles and then go home.

And each of those missiles will go to a specific target that the computer told that missile to go to. And if it's a moving target, the computer will tell that target is moving from left to right – 'that's a tank; it's on this road'. So in the terminal phase of the missile there's a millimeter sensor in the nose of the missile. It comes on and it looks at the exact spot in space and altitude and coordinates where that target was supposed to be and if it was moving to the right at eight kilometers an hour then it begins to scan the right until it finds that tank. And then it turns and goes after that tank.
 

Bhadra

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I fail to understand why should this machine be with IAF ? All logics defy that !
 

asianobserve

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Because it's an American weapons system. And Americans can't be trusted because all their weapons are bugged and can be controlled from the Pentagon, and because they are naturally scheming good for nothing parasites who have no culture dating back thousands of years and who are already going under (good for them)... :laugh:
 
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Bhadra

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Why do you think so? Can you elaborate?
Apache have not typical air war function but is solely meant for ground support roles in conjunction with troops on ground. Since these machines were used to bust air corridors in Iraq that does not qualify it to become a true long reach air operations platforms. Or why should air force need those. Where in the world are attack hepters part of the air forces?
 

asianobserve

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Apache have not typical air war function but is solely meant for ground support roles in conjunction with troops on ground. Since these machines were used to bust air corridors in Iraq that does not qualify it to become a true long reach air operations platforms. Or why should air force need those. Where in the world are attack hepters part of the air forces?

Ah, okay. My apologies. :namaste: I agree with you there. Apache as all the other attack helicopters are actually glorified anti-tank killers (and later evolved into CAS and COIN platforms due to War on Terror experiences). These functions primarily belong to the ground forces.
 

sayareakd

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since block III is able to operate UAV are we going to get UAVs too ??
 

Bhadra

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I do not think apaches typically control uavs. Those can utilise UAVs to engange targets as identified by UAV or identify targets to be taken care of by the UAV. UAVs are long endurance platforms operating at medium or high altitudes. UAVs can direct the apaches on to a target, coordinate functions between various plateforms, provide acquisition support, communication backups and damage assessment.

apches will have shorter endurance and only thing it can do is direct guided fire of UAVs on targets being very near and low and on targets. Also carry out damage assessment.
 

sesha_maruthi27

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At last uncle sam is shredding some of his technology for the sake of money to invest in his R&D for F-35 lightning fighter. Will INDIA get TOT or it is just a pre-assembled machine broken into parts and re-fitted in INDIA?
 

ace009

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I do not think apaches typically control uavs. Those can utilise UAVs to engange targets as identified by UAV or identify targets to be taken care of by the UAV. UAVs are long endurance platforms operating at medium or high altitudes. UAVs can direct the apaches on to a target, coordinate functions between various plateforms, provide acquisition support, communication backups and damage assessment.

apches will have shorter endurance and only thing it can do is direct guided fire of UAVs on targets being very near and low and on targets. Also carry out damage assessment.
There are UAVs and then there are UAVs. I am not sure the Apaches will control the Predators or Reapers. They may or may not share a datalink with those. However, the Apaches might be carrying and controlling small/ foldable UAV like this ..

NAVAIR Orders 7 Zephyr Ultra-Long Endurance UAVs
 

Bhadra

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Apache Block III controls a Gray Eagle UAV demonstrating advanced Manned-Unmanned Operations
An aH-64D Apache Block III equipped with the new Unmanned Aerial Systems Tactical Common Data Link Assembly (UTA) recently controlled an unmanned vehicle, while both were in flight. This marks the first time an unmanned vehicle has been controlled from the cockpit of an Apache, a significant accomplishment in manned-unmanned teaming.
During flight tests, the UTA controlled the payload and flight path of a Gray Eagle (MQ-1C) while both the Apache and unmanned aircraft system (UAS) were airborne.
"This is a true game-changing capability that the Block III will bring to the warfighter." said Lt. Col. Bailey, U.S. Army Apache Block III product manager. UTA enhances situational awareness between Apache pilots, ground commanders and the UAS to create a true net-centric battlespace.
The LONGBOW UTA is a two-way, high-bandwidth data link for Apache aircrews that allows sensor and flight path control of the UAS. UTA-equipped Apaches enable aircrews to exercise control of UAS at long ranges and receive real-time, high-definition streaming video on their multi-function displays. The UTA is fully integrated into the Block III Apache mission computer. The U.S. Army's LONGBOW system consists of either a fire control radar or the new UTA, a fire-and-forget radar frequency HELLFIRE millimeter wave-guided missile, and an all-digital M299 launcher for the AH-64D Apache helicopter. The LONGBOW UTA will be fielded on the Apache Block III aircraft beginning in 2012.
The UTA was developed by Longbow, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
 

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The U.S. Army is planning to test a combined operation of manned and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), as part of the demonstration of advanced capabilities enabled with current and future systems and technologies.

The demonstration called 'Manned Unmanned Systems Integration Concept' (MUSIC) will take place at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, in September 2011. MUSIC will demonstrate the interoperability between manned and unmanned systems, including 'level-4"² UAS interoperability enabling air crews of AH-64D Apache Block III Attack helicopters to control, and monitor the video captured by the EO payloads of RQ-7 Shadow UAS.

During the exercise, the MQ-1C 'Gray Eagle', MQ-5B 'Hunter', RQ-7 'Shadow', RQ-11B 'Raven' and the AH-64D 'Apache' Block III will all be exchanging information and exchanging command and control while in flight. The images will also be transferred over One Station Rover Video Terminal (OSRVT) video datalink to other participants, including OH-58D Kiowa warrior and ground control stations.
 

Ray

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