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Apache ditching safety question - given that helicopter maritime strike is clearly still part of UK defence planning (for this week at least)
Does the UK Apache fleet now include any kind of flotation gear or improved crew survivability for water landing or ditching ?
I include in this context, both the existing in-service UK WAH model and the 'new' E model which is yet to enter UK service and may be re-manufactured in, or supplied as new, directly from the US.
This subject has surfaced several times in the last few years, given the realisation a long while back, that the crew was PPP in a ditching situation. I've seen a number of 'good intentions' but I have yet to read of anything actually 'fitted and in service' either with the original UK 66 or with the AH-64 D/E.
Numerous agencies were quoted as long ago as 2013, as being variously involved with flotation gear, stabilising systems and improved cockpit egress.
A 2013 article in Defense News referred to by ORAC (but now migrated to here - https://thejewishvoice.com/2013/02/f...or-uk-apaches/ ) said - "The helicopter is scheduled for a big capability sustainment update later in the decade, but the maritime safety improvements are too pressing to wait that long." (nb - my bold)
According to Janes, in 2019 - "The US Army is to retrofit its Boeing AH-64D/E Apache attack helicopters with an underwater escape system for the crew as part of a wider rollout of the aircraft’s maritime capabilities."
The article continued- "This upgrade is necessaryas, when fitted with the top-heavy mast-mounted fire-control radar, the Apache has a tendency to roll and become inverted quickly. Although an Apache flotation system has been developed and tested by the UK, the upgrade adds weight to the aircraft that could otherwise be given to fuel and ordnance." (Again - my bold. Does that mean 'For but not necessarily With ?)
Prune discussed this subject in 2013 and 2014 ....
Apache gets Air Bags
and -
The Media "Good Safety Record"
The issue is also well articulated by a 'customer.' See Will Laidlaw's excellent 2016 book "Apache over Libya."
Happy to be corrected, but it doesn't look as if there is anything actually in service yet.
So, for a survival problem that was well known at least ten years ago, is the ditching risk now considered ALARP and tolerable - in 2020 ? -
Either with or without ?
LFH
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