AH-64E Apache attack helicopter

[Immanuel]

hmmm This number is too low, we need around 5 squadrons of 22 each,110 helos, thats a better number.

 

[Blackwater]

hmmm This number is too low, we need around 5 squadrons of 22 each,110 helos, thats a better number.

first 22 to ane do. in 22 ko ane me bhi 10 saal lag jane ha:taunt1::taunt1:

 

[Bhadra]

hmmm This number is too low, we need around 5 squadrons of 22 each,110 helos, thats a better number.

Air assets are very flexible and can be switched from one place to the other in no time. What will happen to existing MI -28? Let those also be employed somewhere.

ALH will also come in large numbers and as per DODOs those will outgun the AH- 64.

 

[Apollyon]

Future Weapons : AH64D Apache Helicopter : Discovery Channel
HowStuffWorks "How Apache Helicopters Work"

 

[kaustav2001]

Someone mentioned on BR that the Apaches we're getting will come without the "Arrowhead system". Can anyone confirm if that's true ?

Arrowhead (a.k.a Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor or M-TADS/PNVS) is the advanced electro-optical fire control system that Apache helicopter pilots use for safe flight in day, night, or bad weather missions. It is the U.S. Army's Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) system that is leading edge in its design. M-TADS/PNVS advanced technology improves system performance by over 150 percent.
The Arrowhead system is provided as original equipment on new Apache helicopters, or as retrofit kits that upgrade the older version TADS/PNVS systems. Lockheed Martin rolled out the first Arrowhead system to the US Army in May 2005 and completed integration on the first Apache helicopters in June 2005.

The Arrowhead system has 2 turrets. The lower turret contains the targeting system, with day and night sensor assemblies. The day sensor assembly , which is undergoing modernization, incorporates a laser rangefinder designator, TV sensor, and laser spot tracker components. The night sensor assembly includes the forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor that can see through haze and smoke and at night. The FLIR sensor has three fields-of-view, a multi-target tracker, multiple-code laser spot tracking, and internal boresight. Arrowhead's electro-optics replace the older version TADS/PNVS direct-view optics with a TADS electronic display and control (TEDAC) unit.
The upper turret houses the pilot night vision system, which provides a long-wave, high-definition FLIR sensor with 52-degree wide field of view optics. The system's processing algorithms give pilots sufficient resolution to avoid obstacles (including wires and trees) during low-level flight and at night.

Arrowhead also has an image-intensified TV camera to aid aircraft pilotage in thermal environments and urban scenarios. The TV camera enables the pilots to see ground tracers, laser points and other signals from the ground. The system's software combines imagery from the TV and the FLIR sensor into one multi-spectral image for the pilot and crew.
Particularly relevant for high-altitude flight is the Arrowhead system's range for identifying targets. The system provides aircrews with a clear FLIR image at ranges greater than 5 miles. This range enables helicopter pilots to maintain an altitude above 2,500 feet and still provide firepower support to US soldiers on the ground.

Arrowhead also helps Apache pilots cope with brownout, which is reduced visibility caused by blinding sand and dust clouds churned up by the helicopter's rotors.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Indian AH-64 are basically top front of AH-64 series..

If that is included its normal..

 

[sesha_maruthi27]

Lets see what will the Americans offer us and what will they end up with giving to us.......

 

[Sumonmitra20]

U.S. Beats Russia to India Helicopter Gunship Deal

U.S. Beats Russia to India Helicopter Gunship Deal

U.S. aerospace giant Boeing has won a $1.4 billion deal to supply India with 22 helicopter gunships, beating off competition from Russia's Mil Mi-28, the Times of India reported on Tuesday.

Only the Boeing AH-64 could meet all the Indian armed forces' air staff qualitative requirements, the paper said.

"It's just a matter of time before the contract is inked for the Apaches after final commercial negotiations. Most of the hurdles have been cleared," a defense ministry official told the paper.

The deal will also include advanced AN/APG-78 fire control radars for the Apaches as well as Hellfire anti-tank and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

Russia is also facing stiff U.S. competition in a tender to supply 15 heavy-lift helicopters to the Indian forces. Russia is offering its Mil Mi-26, the world's largest rotary-wing machine, while Boeing is proposing its veteran CH-47 Chinook.

Notably, the US is known to have much better Electronic Warfare capability than perhaps any other nation. The Apache can detect 256 moving targets in speed, distance and direction and engage them as required.

The twin-engine tandem seat Apache is operated by two pilots, and can execute an attack within 30 seconds of an alert. It is equipped with Northrop Grumman's highly sophisticated millimeter wave Longbow fire control radar and Lockheed Martin's Hellfire and Raytheon's Stinger missiles. The Block III is the latest version being delivered to the US Army from this year. Apache has a strong shell made of composite fibres to protect the pilots from bullets.

India, traditionally one of Russia's core customers for arms, has placed several large defense orders with the United States this year, including a $4.1 billion contract for 10 Boeing C-17 Globemaster-III strategic airlifters, $2.1 billion for eight P-8I Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and $962 million for six C-130J transport aircraft.
Defence News - U.S. Beats Russia to India Helicopter Gunship Deal

 

[vishwaprasad]

Ah-64 looks really mean...I have heard that this can command and control even drones..is that true? When can we expect the deliveries?

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Ah-64 looks really mean...I have heard that this can command and control even drones..is that true? When can we expect the deliveries?

Yes, it can and it depend when the deal get the green light..

 

[Immanuel]

Air assets are very flexible and can be switched from one place to the other in no time. What will happen to existing MI -28? Let those also be employed somewhere.

ALH will also come in large numbers and as per DODOs those will outgun the AH- 64.

you mean LCH? The LCH sure will have a higher flight cieling but AH-64 block 3 out guns anything out there for a long time. From Laser guided 70mm rockets to Hellfires, Stingers and over all situational awareness the AH-64 does 3 times more. Besides LCH has a 20 mm canon and Apache the 30 mm. big difference. Sure assets can be switched but the intensity of fighting that will break out in a simultaneous fight with china and pak won't allow for wastage of time transffering assets from one place to another, better to have a squadron of these deployed at every air command so that they can be put to use as soon as hostilities break out.

 

[vishwaprasad]

^^ Thanks KB for valuable info on AH-64

 

[death.by.chocolate]

Is India acquiring WeaponWatch GFAS system with Apache AH-64D III?

 

[Bhadra]

you mean LCH? The LCH sure will have a higher flight cieling but AH-64 block 3 out guns anything out there for a long time. From Laser guided 70mm rockets to Hellfires, Stingers and over all situational awareness the AH-64 does 3 times more. Besides LCH has a 20 mm canon and Apache the 30 mm. big difference. Sure assets can be switched but the intensity of fighting that will break out in a simultaneous fight with china and pak won't allow for wastage of time transffering assets from one place to another, better to have a squadron of these deployed at every air command so that they can be put to use as soon as hostilities break out.

Apaches are intrinsically A Tk plateforms. In Punjab they would have limited visibility and range, thus limited application.
Ladakh and Arunachal would have limited utility.
The open area for their maximum utilisation is area from Suthern Punjab to Rajasthan. For that one squadron appache and one squardon of MI-28, for the time being, would suffice considering exorbitant cost of both the machines.

Other areas would be taken care of by LCH and LAH and even LUH weaponised.

 

[p2prada]

We do not know the final configuration yet.

 

[Daredevil]

[scribd]104279850&access_key=key-zk6tnysn6ifdti04en7&page=1[/scribd]

 

[Daredevil]

A Newly Networked Helo: AH-64D Longbow Block III

January 02, 2012

Pat Toensmeier/New York

The U.S. Army last month rolled out the latest upgrade to Boeing's iconic Apache attack helicopter—the AH-64D Longbow Block III. The version includes at least 25 technology upgrades and, importantly, interoperability with unmanned aerial systems (UAS) that permits a pilot in flight to control a drone, tap into its streaming video and use its sensors for target engagement.

The AH-64D Block III will reportedly be the only aircraft with such a capability.

This lets a pilot build situational awareness and reduce targeting and engagement time, speeding the response when alerted to an event or to troops in combat, says Lt. Col. Dan Bailey, product manager for the Apache Block III program. "I can use the UAS sensors as my sensors for weapons engagement," he remarks. "The data link [between helicopter and UAS] shares target information and lets me upload ballistic solutions to the Apache."

This is possible through installation on Block III Apaches of the high-bandwidth UTA—short for UAS Tactical Common Data Link Assembly—developed by Longbow LLC, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. The UTA has been flight-tested on an Apache with a General Atomics Gray Eagle MQ-1C UAS.

Its use on the Block III helicopter means pilots will no longer rely on voice information from UAS operators for situational awareness. Referencing his own combat experience, Bailey says that during a 2006-07 deployment to Iraq, Apache pilots had no interoperability with drones beyond voice contact with ground operators. "We'd spend time having UAS operators talk us onto a target." As a result, identification and engagement wasn't possible until the Apache crew was on top of a target. A pilot now will be able to control the flight path of a UAS, sending it well in front of his aircraft to avoid danger, view streaming video and upload sensor data.

Bailey declines to disclose the interoperability range between Apache and UAS. He notes, however, that the UTA's capabilities exceed the Block III upgrade requirement. "We tested and qualified the UTA at more than two times over spec for range, which would be sufficient for a deep attack," he says. "The requirement for UTA performance provides [a crew with] ample lead time—the end result is more than two times that."

Another important upgrade to the Block III Apaches involves high-hot operation. The helicopters are being refitted with T700-GE-701D engines from GE Aviation, which generate 3,400 shp, and with new composite blades that increase lift and speed. The Block III will be able to hover at 6,000 ft. at 95F with a 3,400-lb. payload. The previous maximum hover altitude at 95F was 4,000 ft. with less payload. Combat speed will be 164 kt, an increase of 20 kt.

The blades and spars are made entirely of composites—the spar is also hollow, which Bailey says makes it lighter than the previous spar, more flexible and better able to maintain a sustainable bend under dynamic load. The new blades are 6 in. longer than current ones and have a slightly different swept tip, both of which increase lift. The chord and chamber are virtually unchanged from those of legacy blades. The trim tabs on the trailing edge of the blades have been modified to extend performance.

The Army Acquisition Objective (AAO) calls for 690 Block III Apaches through 2026. Of these, 56 will be new builds and 634 remanufactured. The work is being done at the Boeing plant in Mesa, Ariz.

Bailey says looming budget cuts won't affect the total number of Block IIIs in the AAO. "If there is reduced funding it will mean fewer helicopters in a given year, the number of which will be added to the end of the program." Budget cutbacks, therefore, will "expand the timeline" of the program but not affect the total number of Block III helicopters.

The program, which began in 2006, has been "very successful," he adds. "It is on cost and on schedule." Follow-on development began this year, and will result in enhancements that will be added through 2017.

In addition to the AAO, several international customers are interested in the AH-64D Block III. One country, in fact, is on contract, though Bailey will only say that initial deliveries will begin this year. Many foreign sales will be new, and some will be remanufactures.

AvaitionWeek Magazine

 

[sathya]

Indian Air Force To Buy 22 Apache Helos

Indian Air Force To Buy 22 Apache Helos

NEW DELHI — India's air force has agreed to purchase 22 Apache AH-64D multirole combat helicopters from Boeing in a deal worth an estimated $1.4 billion.

"The financial bid for attack helos was opened some time last week, and since Russia had withdrawn its Mi-28N Night Hunter, Boeing emerged as the sole bidder," a senior defense ministry official says.

The Apache deal includes both direct commercial sale (DCS) and foreign military sales (FMS) components. The agreement also includes offset elements and firm, fixed-cost pricing.

The FMS contract includes munitions, training, aircraft certification and components including engines, electro-optical sensors and the fire control radar, which is optional. The DCS contract primarily consists of the aircraft (less engines/sensors), logistic support, spares and services.

A person closely associated with the deal says talks with the U.S. government concerning the FMS, and with Boeing on the DCS, already have started. "We expect the contract to be signed before the end of this financial year [March 31, 2013]," the person says.

Boeing offered its latest Block-III version of the Apache to India in 2009. Russia, which had fielded the Mi-28, announced late last year that it was out of the running after failing to meet several of the air force's technical requirements.

Boeing says the timing of deliveries will depend on the air force's specific requirements. According to the request for proposals, deliveries should start within 36 months of the contract signing.

The next-generation version of the original AH-64A Apache, the multimission AH-64D has two high-performance turboshaft engines and can cruise at a maximum speed of 284 kph. The attack helo also has laser, infrared and other systems (including a target acquisition designation sight/pilot night vision sensor) to locate, track and attack targets.

The aircraft carries a combination of laser-guided Hellfire missiles, 70-mm rockets and a 30-mm automatic cannon loaded with up to 1,200 high-explosive, dual-purpose ammunition rounds.

Meanwhile the Indian government also will soon open bids for heavy-lift helicopters and aerial refueling tankers, Indian air force chief, N.A.K. Browne says.

Boeing is offering the Chinook CH-47F and Russia its Mi-26 for the heavy-lift contract. Airbus is offering its A330-based multirole tanker transport against the Russian Ilyushin IL-76 in the race to win the refueler contract.

 

[one]

I think the photos are Photoshopped, no nose wheel?

 

[asianobserve]

I think the photos are Photoshopped, no nose wheel?

Apaches have no nose wheel....