As a sign of the importance of this project, in September 1973 the Army designated its five most important projects as the 'Big Five', with the AAH included.

Army issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) for the Advanced Attack Helicopter (AAH) program on 15 November 1972. It would have the maneuverability for terrain following nap-of-the-earth (NoE) flying. The Army wanted an aircraft better than the AH-1 Cobra in firepower, performance and range. The 1948 Key West Agreement forbade the Army from owning combat fixed-wing aircraft.

Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II and the Marine Corps AV-8A Harrier, the United States Army sought an aircraft to fill an anti-armor attack role that would still be under Army command. British and Dutch Apaches have seen deployments in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.ĭevelopment Advanced Attack Helicopter Īn early Hughes YAH-64 prototype with T-tailįollowing the cancellation of the AH-56 Cheyenne in 1972, in favor of projects like the U.S. Israel used the Apache in its military conflicts in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. American AH-64s have served in conflicts in Panama, the Persian Gulf, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It has been built under license in the United Kingdom as the AgustaWestland Apache. It has also become the primary attack helicopter of multiple nations, including Greece, Japan, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates. Army is the primary operator of the AH-64. Production has been continued by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, with over 2,400 AH-64s being produced by 2020. The advanced AH-64D Apache Longbow was delivered to the Army in March 1997. After purchasing Hughes Helicopters in 1984, McDonnell Douglas continued AH-64 production and development. Army selected the YAH-64 over the Bell YAH-63 in 1976, and later approved full production in 1982. The prototype YAH-64 was first flown on 30 September 1975. The Apache began as the Model 77 developed by Hughes Helicopters for the United States Army's Advanced Attack Helicopter program to replace the AH-1 Cobra. The AH-64 has significant systems redundancy to improve combat survivability. It is armed with a 30 mm (1.18 in) M230 chain gun carried between the main landing gear, under the aircraft's forward fuselage, and four hardpoints mounted on stub-wing pylons for carrying armament and stores, typically a mixture of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and Hydra 70 rocket pods. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vision systems.

The Boeing AH-64 Apache ( / ə ˈ p æ tʃ i/) is an American twin- turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two.

Deep sea configuration suite