PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC
Service hits back after media criticism of helicopter's record in Iraq, during which it flew more than 1,000h of sorties
Stung by mounting media criticism of the Boeing AH-64A/D Apache/Longbow Apache's performance in the Iraq war and in need of funding for the next Block 3 upgrade, army and industry supporters of the attack helicopter have mounted a campaign to highlight its accomplishments.
The chief criticism of the Apache centres on the events of 23-24 March when helicopters belonging to the 101st Air Assault Division encountered stiff opposition near Karbala. By the time the engagement was broken off, one Apache Longbow had made a forced landing and its two-man crew captured, and all 29 machines that returned to base had been hit by ground fire to some degree.
The army says none of the 160 Apaches it deployed was lost through enemy ground fire and the machine that was forced down, apparently because of a fuel malfunction, was later recovered by US forces. In addition, the army says that, of the 29 helicopters that returned, most were operating again within 24h and all within 96h.
The Apache is designed to be ballistically tolerant up to and including 23mm rounds, says an industry member of Team Apache, and events in Karbala validated the helicopter's survivability.
The 101st Division-operated Apache went on to help ground forces destroy two Republican Guard divisions. Sand brown-outs rather than enemy ground fire took the greatest toll on the six AH-64D battalions and two AH-64A units deployed, resulting in at least five hard landings and the writing-off of two machines. The army says it was able to field six replacement helicopters from its sustaining base in less than 24h.
During the war, an Apache fired for the first time an RF-guided Rockwell Hellfire anti-tank missile during the opening phase of the ground conflict. Sources say most of the missiles fired during more than 1,000h of Apache sorties were RF-guided and only during the latter phase of the conflict was the semi-active laser version favoured.
Source: Flight International
