Latest Apache Helicopter Controls Unmanned Aircraft
Col. Shane Openshaw, the U.S. Army’s Apache project manager, right, and Col. John Lynch, training and doctrine command capability manager, discuss Apache Block III program April 2 at AAAA in Nashville. (Photo: Bill Carey)
Col. Shane Openshaw, the U.S. Army’s Apache project manager, right, and Col. John Lynch, training and doctrine command capability manager, discuss Apache Block III program April 2 at AAAA in Nashville. (Photo: Bill Carey)

U.S. Army AH-64D Block III helicopter crews exercised directional control of the MQ-1C Grey Eagle unmanned aircraft system (UAS) during the recently completed initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) of the upgraded Apache. The Army will decide whether to approve full-rate production of the Block III in July, including production of the mast-mounted UAS tactical datalink assembly (UTA) developed to control the Grey Eagle. The Army plans to acquire 690 Apache Block IIIs, mostly remanufactured by Boeing from earlier versions.