By Ann Roosevelt
FORT WORTH, Texas–The Army’s multi-mission attack helicopter, the AH-64D Apache produced by Boeing [BA], is making progress on all fronts, especially in theater, officials said.
“It was the most lethal weapons system in Afghanistan,” Lt. Col. John White, former battalion commander of 3-101 AVN, said at the Army Aviation Association of America here last week. “The year I was there, when it came down to the big engagements, it was the Apache doing it.”
White had Apaches as part of his multi-functional task force while deployed from November 2008-December 2009.
Lt. Col. Michael Olmstead, deputy Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Capabilities Manager-Reconnaissance & Attack, hears similar talk from units supported in the field.
“Over and over, I hear clearly stated back to us, aviators and soldiers need the Apache to complete their mission,” Olmstead said. When White returned home, he went to visit Boeing’s Mesa, Ariz., facility, where the Apache program and production line are located.
“I went to Mesa, saw the line, talked to people…it’s a great team, [original equipment manager] OEM and [program manager] PM team,” White said. “We couldn’t do the mission without them.”
Mike Burke, director of Army Rotorcraft Business Development at Boeing Military Aircraft, said when Army aviators go to Mesa and talk to the aircraft producers, “it does great things for morale.”
Col. Shane Openshaw, Army Apache project manager, said bottom line, his job is supporting warfighters, and he’s seeing the progress.
To date, the Apache has accrued more than 7,000 combat hours over eight years, while at the same time the operational readiness rate averages 80 percent, he said. Flying in the high, hot, difficult environment of Afghanistan maintaining that readiness rate is a tribute to the support team, he said.
Operational tempo in theater is around 60-70 hours per aircraft per month, but it often pushes up to 90 hours per aircraft, Openshaw said.
Moving forward, Openshaw said there are a total of 17 Apache Longbow battalions today, leaving four battalions that are planned for conversion over the next couple of years.
For the Extended Block II contract, 117 aircraft are on contract, 92 have been delivered, and 44 of 52 new build aircraft have been delivered, he said. Also, 445 Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight (MTADS)/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (MTADS/PVS) have been delivered by producer Lockheed Martin [LMT], so 18 battalions are now so equipped. Fielding will be complete on all Longbow Apaches by 2011.
Additionally, one Apache battalion has Lockheed Martin’s Video from Unmanned Aerial Systems for Interoperability Teaming Level 2 (VUIT-2) system. It’s now an integrated capability and the Apache office is moving toward the next level, Openshaw said. The next evolution of Apache, the Block III, is moving forward successfully, Openshaw said. “It’s meeting the expectations, and in many cases we exceeded them. We’ve also learned innovative ways that will shape (tactics, techniques and procedures) TTPS for Block III.”