I suppose we should be grateful that we got four sensible replies in before one of them turned up! :rolleyes:

For what it's worth on the other side of the pond the quoted figure is $5K per flight hour though that figure does not include the expendables that go bang. My guess is that it is DOC only and does not include a lot of the fixed costs.....Or perhaps the current rate of exchange is to blame.

Where the **** did they get that figure from!!! I may be an Ah driver so therefore thick but that is way out of bounds......... I know what I am paid, the techs are paid, rough cost of most spares but **** me that s a lot!!!! Who does the accounts there, and if they will own up would you be my accountant for tax claims cause I could really use your help.
Does that take in to account buying the frame, fuel,muntions,MT, cleaners, local bobby, Dennis the cleaner (NI for those to young to remember) 200 odd civil servants for paperwork, plus the 21.50 a day JPA claims for Ah drivers going on course or something..........that figure is pure bollocks or rounding up in a wild way. Even my better half knows I round up on money she has spent and round down in beer I have consumed, guess she should have a look at those figures.

Dennis the Cleaner
 

If Dennis "AKA Grand Tangerine Master" was included on the wages then the cost would double!.

How else could he fund his regular trips to the orient and his "friendly" girlfriend! ;-)

Ralph

I'm sure I've seen a figure of $5k per hour just in spares for the Apache though only getting 150 hours before you might as well buy a new airframe does seem just a bit fishy...

Then again I thought Hellfires were relatively cheap though the last batch seemed to work out at $170k each, 10 times what I thought..... At full load a single Apache could be easily carrying $3mil worth of ordinance.

That figure does carry a shed load of overheads. An eighth of the value reflects part of the cost of 16 AA Bde. If the machines flew more hours, the cost would be less against the fixed overheads.

For those on the inside: http://defenceintranet.diiweb.r.mil....nRates0708.xls

For those on the outside, try:

http://www.defence.mod.uk/dgfm/fmgtd...tes/AirCap.pdf

I'm not on the inside but the second link doesn't appear to work...

The 5K figure is fuel, oil, and spares and not the overhead. Obviously the greater the number of airframes the smaller the impact of overheads on the 'operating cost' of an Apache.

Missiles run from around 30K to 120K based on type.