Years of planning pay off as US Army launches post-2010 modernisation effort to update attack helicopters
The US Army has awarded Boeing a $27 million contract marking the official development start for a Block III package of upgrades to its AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters. The army will spend $57 million on risk-reduction efforts this year before it seeks approval in March 2006 to launch the system development and demonstration phase.
The initial contracts launch a five-year effort to deliver the first of 597 planned AH-64D Block III aircraft in June 2010. The remanufactured AH-64As will be delivered across six yearly production lots ending in fiscal year 2015. Aircraft delivered in Lot 1 are expected to be equipped with 12 of the army’s 24 planned Block III upgrades, with further modifications to be delivered in Lots 4 and 6.
Items included in the Lot 1 package will focus on improving situational awareness and survivability and on boosting operating efficiency and performance. This includes integrating General Electric T700-701D engines, composite main rotor blades, a Boeing/NorthStar Aerospace transmission, a new mission processor using an open architecture, and the ability to conduct the Level 4 control of unmanned air vehicles. Two more upgrades scheduled to be inserted in the Lot 4 contract are maintenance-related, such as embedded diagnostics and a condition-based maintenance capability.
Finally, the army plans to dramatically improve target detection and recognition capabilities, including a range extension for its Longbow fire-control radar, a maritime target mode, a cognitive decision-aiding system, aided target classification and fusion of the radar data with images from Lockheed Martin’s Arrowhead modernised target acquisition system.
The approval of long-term funding was made possible after cancellation of the Boeing/Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche in February 2004.
STEPHEN TRIMBLE / WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
