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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Boeing [BA] said Wednesday future procurement of the Apache attack helicopter may not necessarily involve a new multi-year deal and that the Army could potentially use “alternative contracting solutions” for future procurement.
KJ Jolivette, vice president and general manager of Boeing Vertical Lift, told Defense Daily the company’s production line under its current multi-year AH-64E Apache contract runs through 2029 while the Army has forecast a potential cut to the program’s funding in fiscal year 2027 budget documents released earlier this month.
“I would say in today’s environment getting multi-year [deals] is a little tricky. And with our supply chain, it’s a little tricky,” Jolievette said. “That’s a long ways out, and I think we’re talking about things like that but I wouldn’t say we’re committed to that today. I think the government itself, [the Pentagon], is thinking about some alternative contracting solutions as we go forward. So I think there’s still a lot on the table. It doesn’t necessarily have to be what we call a multi-year, traditionally. It could be other contracts that help us get to the next generation of Apache, said following a briefing at the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual conference here.
Army officials have previously said the service’s decision on whether to award another multi-year contract for Apache helicopters could be reflected in its FY ‘27 budget request, with full details expected to be rolled out next week, while a budget line document released on April 3 included just $1.5 million for AH-64 Apache remanufacturing (Defense Daily, April 3).
“At this point, it’s so early in the process, we’re not going to speculate on [the funding level]. There’s still a lot of work to do on the budget, and I think trying to guess where it’s going to end up being is not what we want to do,” Jolivette told reporters during a briefing here.
The Army signed the second and what was at the time the expected final multi-year contract for AH-64E Apache attack helicopters with Boeing in March 2023, which supports production orders through 2027 and could be worth up to $3.8 billion (Defense Daily, March 17, 2023).
“With some of our supply chain challenges, we’ve had to extend the timeframe. So that’s why the deliveries go out to 2029,” Jolivette said. “It’s never too early to talk about a next multi-year, just because of the amount of time it takes to get it into the budget.”
“The Army is thinking through different creative contract options in the future. So our history of multi-years could look different five years from now. We may have different contract vehicles that get us to the same place a multi-year would. So we’re flexible and trying to work with the Army on the path forward,” she added.
Jolivette cited the Army’s decision to utilize a Middle Tier of Acquisition pathway last October for rapid fielding of the Boeing’s CH-47F Chinook Block II heavy-lift aircraft as an example of a new contracting approach (Defense Daily, Oct. 3, 2025).
“Is that a multi-year? No, but it’s a requirement to deliver [aircraft] in five years,” Jolivette told Defense Daily.
As part of the new Army Transformation Initiative, the service last year detailed plans to move on from its fleet of AH-64D Apaches, as it continues to prioritize its E-Model fleet and work with Boeing on the new Version 6.5 upgrade.
Congressional appropriators rebuked the Army’s planned cut for the Apache remanufacturing effort and included $360 million in the final FY ‘26 defense spending bill (Defense Daily, Jan. 22).
Boeing has been working on the Version 6.5 upgrade for the AH-64 E fleet for the last few years, which the company noted brings an open systems software approach to the aircraft and will enable integration with launched effects, with TJ Jamison, business development director for attack helicopters, noting it would not require a new contract but a modification in order to cut that into the production line.
“That is the Army’s priority, to get Version 6.5 out there into the fleet,” Jamison told reporters. “We’ve done our verification of it. The Army is doing their testing right now. We expect that to be completed very soon. And the majority of it is going to be a software insert into the aircraft [and] there’s some hardware. But that will be a very rapid and fairly simple process to get Version 6.5 into the existing fleet and cut into the production line.”
Jolivette added that the addition of the Version 6.5 upgrade into the production line is a potential option that exists under the current multi-year contract rather than a confirmed plan at this moment.
“I think the Army is trying to figure [that] out as they go through testing. They know it’s a game changer. They know they want it. They’re just trying to figure out when and where do they cut it in,” Jolivette said.
