The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Republic of Korea of AH-64E Apache Helicopters and related elements of logistics and program support for an estimated cost of $3.5 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today.
The Republic of Korea (ROK) has requested to buy up to thirty-six (36) AH-64E Apache Attack Helicopters; up to seventy-six (76) T700-GE-701D Engines (72 installed, 4 spares); up to thirty-six (36) AN/ASQ-170 Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sight/AN/AAR-11 Modernized Pilot Night Vision Sensors
(M-TADS/PNVS); up to fourteen (14) AN/APG-78 Fire Control Radars (FCR) with Mast Mounted Assembly (MMA); up to fourteen (14) AN/APG-78 Fire Control Radars (FCR) with Radar Electronic Units (REU); up to fourteen (14) AN/APR-48B Modernized-Radar Frequency Interferometers (MRFI); up to four hundred fifty-six (456) AGM-114R2 (N) Hellfire Missiles; up to six (6) M36E8 Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM); up to one hundred fifty-two (152) AGM-179A Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM); up to forty (40) AAR-57 Common Missile Warning Systems (CMWS) (36 installed, 4 spares). The following non-MDE items will also be included: AN/AVR-2B laser detecting sets; AN/APX-123A Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) transponders; IDM-401 improved data modems; Enhanced Image Intensifier (EI2) cameras; AN/ARN-149 (V)3 automatic direction finders; ASN-157 Doppler Radar Velocity Sensors; AN/APN-209 radar altimeters; AN/PYQ-10(C) Simple Key Loader; Airborne Global Positioning System (GPS)/Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System (EGI); AN/APR-39C(V)1+ Radar Signal Detecting sets; ARC-220 High Frequency Communication Systems; KIV-77 Mark XIIA IFF Crypto Applique; Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) software update; M230E-1 30mm automatic gun; M139 AWS 20mm automatic gun; M261 rocket launchers; M299 missile launchers; 2.75-inch rockets; 30mm rounds; MG62 Cartridge Impulse BBU-35/N; A965 cartridges, 25.4mm rounds; M839 decoys; L410 flares; M206 aircraft countermeasures decoy flares; Cartridge Actuated Devices/Propellant Actuated Devices (CAD/PADs); U.S. Government engineering, technical, and logistics support services; and other related elements of program and logistics support. The estimated total cost is $3.5 billion.
This proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a major ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific region.
The proposed sale will improve the Republic of Korea’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing a credible force capable of deterring adversaries and participating in regional operations. Korea will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.
The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.
The principal contractors will be Boeing, located in Mesa, AZ; and Lockheed Martin, located in Orlando, FL. The purchaser typically requests offsets. Any offset agreement will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and the contractor.
There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.
The description and dollar value are for the highest estimated quantity and dollar value based on initial requirements. Actual dollar value will be lower depending on final requirements, budget authority, and signed sales agreement(s), if and when concluded.
Poland's Ministry of National Defence has finalized a major agreement with the United States to acquire 96 Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, along with associated gear and weaponry, for its armed forces. The signing ceremony, which took place on August 13, was attended by Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister.
Valued at approximately $10 billion, this acquisition represents the largest procurement of Western-made helicopters in Poland's history. The deal also includes offset agreements, ensuring that Poland’s defense industry will participate in the maintenance and upgrade of these helicopters.
The new Apaches will replace the aging fleet of Soviet-designed Mil Mi-2 and Mi-24 helicopters currently in service. Once all 96 helicopters are delivered, Poland will become the second-largest operator of Apache helicopters globally, after the U.S. military.
The helicopters will be stationed at the 1st Aviation Brigade in Inowrocław, in western Poland, where they will provide aerial support to Polish ground forces. This purchase is part of Poland's broader effort to modernize its military in response to security concerns following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The U.S. State Department approved the foreign military sale to Poland on August 21, 2023. In addition to the helicopters, the contract includes a wide array of weaponry, such as 1,844 AGM-114R2 Hellfire missiles, 460 AGM-179A Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles, and 508 Stinger 92K Block I missiles.
Boeing has initiated the production of the inaugural Apache AH-64E helicopter, marking the commencement of a 24-unit order designated for the Royal Moroccan Air Forces (FAR).
This significant development stems from a 2020 equipment agreement between the United States and Morocco, elevating the North African nation to the esteemed status of the 17th country deploying this cutting-edge combat helicopter.
Plans are currently underway at the Khouribga military base to facilitate the integration of Apache squadrons, scheduled to commence operations from late 2024 into early 2025. The anticipation is extended due to the sophisticated nature of these helicopters, accentuated by their advanced systems. Boeing highlights their prowess in "communications, navigation, sensors, and weapons systems," alongside an enhanced and modernized target designation structure providing comprehensive day, night, and all-weather targeting information, as well as night-vision navigation capabilities.
Described for its combat prowess and equipped with state-of-the-art military technologies, the Apache is known for its exemplary performance in the field.
Boeing emphasizes that the helicopter boasts an open systems architecture that encompasses the latest in communications, navigation, sensor, and weapon systems, signifying a substantial leap forward for both the Moroccan military and the burgeoning partnership between the Alawites and their increasingly integrated US counterparts.
This development signifies a pivotal advancement for the Royal Moroccan Air Force (FAR), particularly in a time of heightened regional instability. The ongoing tension with Algeria and the persistent attacks by the Polisario Front serve as a reminder to the Kingdom, which navigates through a tumultuous period while endeavoring to preserve its regional leadership—a position that the Algerians seek to challenge, without success at the moment.
The US State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale of a refurbishment package for 43 Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters owned by Egypt.
The estimated $2.3 billion deal is not final, but was announced via a required notification by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency to the US Congress on 7 May.
Egypt intends to use these refurbished AH-64 helicopters to modernise its armed forces to address the shared US-Egyptian interest in countering terrorist activities emanating from the Sinai Peninsula, which threaten Egyptian and Israeli security and undermine regional stability,” says the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
Over the last couple of decades, the USA has helped Egypt put down a Bedouin insurgency, which has used attacks on civilians and kidnappings of tourists to further its cause.
The deal would also come with weapons: Hellfire missile launchers, 2.75in tube rocket launchers, and M230 chain guns. flightglobal
The U.S. State Department has approved a possible sale six AH-64E Apache and six AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters to the Government of the Philippines.
The Government of the Philippines has requested to buy six (6) AH-1Z attack helicopters; fourteen (14) T-700 GE 401C engines (12 installed, 2 spares); seven (7) Honeywell Embedded Global Positioning Systems/Inertial Navigation (EGIs) w/Precise Positioning Service (PPS) (6 installed, 1 spare); six (6) AGM-114 Hellfire II missiles; and twenty six (26) Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) all up rounds. defpost
Morocco will acquire AH-64 Apache military helicopters from the US within the next two years. How many helicopters Morocco will receive is unknown.
The deal to purchase the Apache helicopters has been underway since April last year, but the timeframe of delivery has only just been revealed
Morocco has a pressing need for new sophisticated attack helicopters.
The Moroccan government considered two helicopter models, the US made AH-64 Apache, and the Turkish made T-129 ATAK helicopter, finally settling for the US model mid last year.
Last week, the U.S. State Department cleared a potential foreign military sale of 24 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters to Qatar, in a deal that could be worth up to $3 billion.
Morocco will be the second African country to own the helicopter, after Egypt, which bought a fleet in 1995. moroccoworldnews
New Delhi's Defence Acquisition Council has approved the acquisition of six AH-64E Apache attack helicopters for the army at a cost of $651 million.
The deal still needs final approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), and a formal contract could take up to a year.
In September 2015, Boeing received orders for 22 AH-64E Apache’s and 15 CH-47F Chinooks. The contract also contained options for 11 Apaches and 7 Chinooks.
Boeing will commence air force Apache deliveries in 2019. Once the air force receives all 22 of its Apaches, then the army's six will be delivered.
Boeing will supply the Apache platform as a direct commercial sale (DCS). The engines, sensors and armament will be supplied by the US Govt as a foreign military sale (FMS). flightglobal
The U.S. Army on Monday night ended a weeklong grounding of its stateside rotary fleet of more than 1,100 aircraft after a five-day shutdown to review safety procedures, the service said.
The grounding came after three helicopters in as many locations crashed within 10 days, killing a total of eight soldiers.
The training accidents brought the total of Class A mishaps -- accidents in which there is a fatality or more than $2 million damage -- to four in fiscal 2016, which began on Oct. 1, according to the Army’s Combat Readiness Center.
By comparison, a total of 13 such accidents occurred in all of fiscal 2015, resulting in 15 fatalities, according to the center. military
The United Kingdom has requested the remanufacture of fifty WAH-64 Mk 1 Attack Helicopters to AH-64E Apache Guardian Helicopters with one hundred and ten (110) T-700-GE-701D Engines (100 installed and 10 spares), the refurbishment of fifty-three (53) AN/ASQ-170 Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sights (M-TADS) (50 installed and 3 spares), the refurbishment of fifty-three (53) AN/AAR-11 Modernized Pilot Night Vision Sensors (PNVS) (50 installed and 3 spares), the refurbishment of fifty-two (52) AN/APG-78 Fire Control Radars (FCR) (50 installed and 2 spares) with fifty-five (55) Radar Electronics Units (Longbow Component) (50 installed and 5 spares), fifty-two (52) AN/APR-48B Modernized Radar Frequency Interferometers (50 installed and 2 spares), sixty (60) AAR-57(V) 3/5 Common Missile Warning Systems (CMWS) with 5th Sensor and Improved Countermeasure Dispenser (50 installed and 10 spares), one hundred and twenty (120) Embedded Global Positioning Systems (GPS) with Inertial Navigation (100 installed and 20 spares), and three hundred (300) Apache Aviator Integrated Helmets. dsca
The defence ministry has cleared two crucial deals to equip the Indian Air Force with US-built attack and heavy-lift helicopters.
Defence minister has sent the proposals to buy 22 AH-64D Apache and 15 CH-47F Chinook to the finance ministry for clearance.
The Apache proposal went to the finance ministry on April 23, while the one to buy Chinooks was sent last week. The proposals will later go to the cabinet committee on security, for final clearance. The latest price extension granted by Boeing for the choppers is valid till June 30.
The proposals have clauses to place follow-on orders for 11 more Apaches and four extra Chinooks. Boeing had beaten off competition from Russia, which had offered its Mi-28N and Mi-26. hindustantimes
India is likely to sign a nearly $2.5 billion deal for 22 AH-64E Apache and 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters during an upcoming visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
India downselected the Apache over the Russian Mi-28N in 2012 to replace its aging Russian Mi-25/35 aircraft. The Russians also lost out to Boeing in the race to sell heavy-lift helicopters after the Indian air force said it preferred the Chinook over the Mi-26T2.
India operates a Russian-built fleet of aging Mi-35 attack helicopters that urgently need to be replaced. aviationweek
Saudi Arabia is shortly to begin receiving the first of 24 Boeing AH-6i Little Bird light attack and reconnaissance helicopters.
The US Army's Non-Standard Rotary-Wing Aircraft project office has issued a sources sought notice for the transportation of an unspecified number of helicopters from the United States to the kingdom, as well as for pilot and maintainer training.
A contract for manufacture of 24 AH-6i helicopters was awarded to Boeing in September 2014.
The AH-6i is based on the 1960s-era Hughes Model 369 (OH-6 Cayuse in US Army service) light scout helicopter, and features an enhanced powerplant, payload, and avionics package.
Its weapons fit includes the Dillon M134D 7.62 mm Gatling gun, General Dynamics GAU-19 12.7 mm Gatling gun, FN Herstal M3P 12.7 mm chain gun, Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles, as well as a variety of seven-shot 'dumb' or laser-guided 70 mm rocket systems mounted on the four-station weapons planks. The AH-6i is also equipped with a chin-mounted L-3 Wescam MX-15Di electro-optic/infrared sensor turret.
The AH-6i's improved avionics are based on the same software as the Boeing AH-64E Apache .
The Saudi deal marks the first sale of the AH-6i for Boeing, although Jordan has signed a letter of intent for 18 such helicopters with an option for a further six. janes
The UK has mothballed a quarter of its AgustaWestland-Boeing WAH-64 Apache Longbow AH.1 helicopters following the end of combat operations in Afghanistan.
In January, 16 of the British Army's 66 Apaches were placed into storage, leaving a force of 50 helicopters now operating out of Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk.
Currently, the Apache is fielded by 653 (operational conversion unit), 662, and 663 Squadrons of 3 (Attack) Regiment, and 656 and 664 Squadrons of 4 (Attack) Regiment.
The MoD is also assessing its options for maintaining the UK's attack helicopter capability out to 2040 and beyond.
In early March the MoD released a request for information (RfI) for remanufacturing the army's current AH-64D Block 1-standard helicopters into the latest variant AH-64E.
A decision on the way forward is expected in March 2016. janes
Pressured by a possible price hike from Boeing in its planned purchase of 22 AH-64E Apache and 15 CH-47F Chinook helicopters for the Air Force, the Indian Ministry of Defence is considering inking the final contract before March 31 when the price set by Boeing will expire.
A Boeing executive said the company cannot guarantee it will be able to keep the price quote beyond March 31 because it cannot afford to "wait endlessly".
India delayed signing the contract because of a lack of funds. Even in the current financial year, which ends March 31, there are no funds for new purchases because money has been diverted from the Capital Head, which is reserved for buying new weapons, to the Revenue Head account, which is used to pay for salaries and day-to-day expenses of the 1.5-million-person military.
Under these circumstances, MoD is now considering signing the $2.5 billion contract before March 31 but begin making payments in the next financial year.
The Boeing executive said they will respond to this method of payment after such a proposal is received.
However, before the deal is inked it will need clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Security which is headed by the prime minister.
The Indian Air Force selected Boeing's AH-64E Apache and CH-47F Chinook helicopters over the Russian Mi-28H Night Hunter and Mi-26 heavy lift helicopter in 2012. defensenews
Dutch United Nations attack helicopters carried out air strikes on Tuareg rebel forces in northern Mali on Tuesday, the first such engagement by Dutch forces serving in the U.N. mission in Mali.
The U.N. mission, known as MINUSMA, said it was responding to heavy weapons fire directed at its peacekeepers in the town of Tabankort. It said the helicopters only destroyed a rebel vehicle after firing warning shots that were ignored.
The incident highlights how Mali's north is still awash with various armed groups and is likely to complicate the last round of U.N.-backed peace talks due to take place next month between the government and the rebel factions that are involved.
Some 450 Special Forces troops, intelligence operatives and four Apache helicopter gunships from the Netherlands have been deployed in northern Mali as part of a force of up to 12,000 men. reuters
Egypt received 10 Apache helicopters from the United States in the past week, a sign of easing tensions between the long-time allies confronting Islamist extremism across the region.
The United States originally announced in April that it had decided to lift its hold on the delivery of the attack helicopters, imposed last year after the military toppled elected president Mohamed Mursi and cracked down hard on his Muslim Brotherhood supporters.
The Pentagon said in September that the United States would deliver the helicopters to support Cairo's counter-terrorism efforts.
Egypt is fighting an Islamist insurgency targeting mostly security personnel and based mainly in the lawless Sinai Peninsula bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip.
The most powerful militant group there, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, swore allegiance last month to Islamic State, the al-Qaeda offshoot that swept across northern Iraq and Syria earlier this year and now faces U.S.-led air strikes.
Egypt has created a one-kilometer buffer zone along the border with Gaza by clearing houses and trees and destroying subterranean tunnels it says militants use to smuggle arms from Islamist-controlled Gaza.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who as army chief ousted Mursi, has also expressed concern over militants who are thriving in the chaos of post-Gaddafi Libya and are opposed to the Cairo government.
Critics say Egypt's crackdown on Islamists is trampling on human rights and expanding to include peaceful protesters as well as secular and liberal activists. reuters
The UK has retained a number of Chinook transport helicopters in Afghanistan to support personnel assigned to the NATO training and advisory mission in the country.
Three RAF Chinooks previously assigned to operations in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan have been relocated to Kabul to support the servicemen that remain in the country following the wider withdrawal of UK forces last month.
The Chinooks become the last UK air assets to remain in Afghanistan following the announcement in mid-November that all UK forces had now left. While the RAF's Panavia Tornado GR.4 strike aircraft were withdrawn to much fanfare in mid-November, there has been no public announcement related to the other air assets in theatre, beyond the general announcements about UK forces having left their main area of operations in southern Afghanistan.
Other UK air assets stationed in Afghanistan comprised the RAF's General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a number of which have now been transferred to operations over Iraq, as well as the British Army's AgustaWestland-Boeing Apache AH.1 attack helicopters, AgustaWestland Lynx AH.9A support helicopters, and Thales Watchkeeper WK450 UAVs. All of these are now understood to either be back in the UK or in transit back to the UK.
In July, military sources disclosed that the upgraded Westland/Aerospatiale SA 330E Puma HC.2 medium-lift transport helicopter may be deployed to Kabul in 2015 to help support the NATO training mission in Afghanistan.
This MoD statement regarding the retention of some Chinooks in Kabul demonstrates that NATO and the West was never going to be able (or even willing) to make a clean break from Afghanistan with the cessation of combat operations at the end of 2014. janes
After delivery was suspended for many months, the Egyptian Air Force has finally received ten Apache helicopters from the United States.
On November 24 the Egyptian Air Force (EAF) released a photo showing the helicopters, covered in white protective plastic, after being delivered to an Egyptian port
On April 22 this year, the United States was lifted its suspension of military aid to Egypt, allowing deliveries to go ahead.
Egyptian military aid was suspended in October 2013.
Egypt was also due to receive four F-16C/D fighter jets, M1 Abrams main battle tank kits (for local assembly) and Harpoon Block II missiles but it appears that delivery of these items is still suspended. The United States normally sends $1.5 billion in mainly military aid to Egypt every year.
The Egyptian Air Force ordered 12 Apaches in 2009 to augment the 35 that have been in service since 2003 with the Egyptian Air Force’s 550 Attack Helicopter Regiment. The status of the remaining two Apaches is not clear. defenceweb
