Apache Longbow
From defence helicopter, a bit of good news to put a smile on any gun pilots fizzer! And to the ill informed prophets of doom, the glass is very much half full!!
Apache does well on two fronts - Curran
Content: Radar and fire control equipped U.S. Army AH-64D Apaches deployed in Kuwait are turning in ‘exceptional’ mission capable rates.
‘It’s been really better than we anticipated,’ says Gen Mark Curran, CG of the Army Aviation Center, Ft Rucker, Ala.
‘It means we can support the sustainment and maintainability rates. And it’s a tough situation out there - the helicopters are split based, which adds to the problems.’
Deployment of a battalion of D model Apaches to Kuwait was a closely kept secret until recently. But the aircraft are part of a training exercise in Kuwait that has been running more or less permanently since the end of Desert Storm.
The battalion - the 1st Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division - are normally based near Savannah, Ga., under the command of Lt Col Mark Jones.
The aircraft moved to Kuwait shortly after President Bush’s ‘axis of evil’ speech.
In an interview with Defence Helicopter shortly after attending ceremonies marking the transition between Multi-Year Procurement I and MYP II Apache production series at Boeing’s Apache plant in Mesa, Az., Curran also commented on reports that A model Apaches had performed well during last month’s Operation Anaconda on the Afghani-Pakistan border.
‘The feedback we’re getting is that they are very pleased with performance of aircraft.
‘You look at the reports at what those aircraft went through and the fact they were able to return home, and it’s a testimony to the engineering design and the requirements that were set.
‘The bottom line is that Apache’s proven to be a pretty hardy aircraft in actual combat.
‘People were psyched a little bit. You had a situation with soldiers on ground in close contact there, and they needed close air support. Obviously we have an aircraft that can do all that.’
However, Curran said he had no direct operational information to impart. ‘I’m going on informal reports and frankly what the press has been saying,’ he commented.
Nevertheless, his remarks may signal a renewed outburst of enthusiasm for the aircraft during forthcoming budget cycles. Since operations using Apaches went wrong in Kosovo three years ago, Army and Congressional support for the aircraft has been muted. The mood has affected modernization plans, shifting many of them into the future, and this may now be changing.
But Curran cautioned: ‘It’s not over yet. We anticipate they’ll be in action again soon.’