Army Signs on for Block III Apache Attack Helicopter | Aviation International News

Army Signs on for Block III Apache Attack Helicopter

The Block III Apache has been approved for full-rate production and redesignated AH-64E. (Photo: Boeing)

By Chris Pocock • Defense Correspondent

November 2, 2012

The U.S. Army gave the go-ahead for full-rate production of the Block III version of the Boeing Apache attack helicopter, which has been redesignated AH-64E. Potential export orders could add as many as 100 new airframes in the next few years. The AH-64E offers several improvements, including greater power, composite main rotor blades, net-centric communications, defensive system enhancements, modernized target acquisition designation sight (M-TADS), automated target detection and classification, and the ability to control UAVs. “We just took the most important decision in the AH-64 program since the original Block 1 and II,” said Col. Jeff Hager, the Army’s Apache project manager. The Army plans to buy 48 aircraft in each of the next several years, so that the ultimate production total reaches 690.

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