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Britain has bought a fleet of fifty top-of-the-range Apache attack helicopters worth hundreds of millions from America in a move that will booster the UK’s military strength.
The Army are working at pace to bring fifty Apache AH-64E Version 6 aircraft that cost $560million (£412million) into service.
The helicopters replaced the Apache Mk.1, which entered service in 2001 and proved battle-winning assets in Afghanistan and Libya and were also flown by Prince Harry on training missions when he served in the Army.
Lieutenant Colonel Simon Wilsey is the Commanding Officer of 3 Regiment Army Air Corps, the first unit to field the AH-64E.
He said: ‘The AH-64E Apache is a 21st Century attack helicopter that is more lethal, agile, survivable and integrated and will enhance the way the Army fights.
‘It is a central part of the British Army’s warfighting capability.
‘What is key to the AH-64E’s improved capabilities is its ability to integrate with other ground and air assets, allowing us to share information so that we can find and strike the enemy before our forces are targeted themselves.
‘Everyone in the regiment – aircrew, engineers and groundcrew – is proud and excited to be at the forefront of bringing AH-64E into service.
‘We have invested in the training of our people to maximise what we can do with such an advanced aircraft.’
The new Apache attack helicopters have a top speed of 186mph and can detect 256 potential targets at once up to 10 miles away and prioritise threats in seconds.
It carries a mix of weapons that include a 30mm chain gun, 70mm rockets and Hellfire missiles to provide choice for the commander and flexibility during the mission.
They were built by Boeing and feature new rotor blades and drivetrain to improve flying performance as well as improved sights, sensors and communications systems to share data with other helicopters.
Fourteen of the AH-64E Apache aircraft were delivered to Wattisham Flying Station, Suffolk, in the last three months from November, with 36 more due to arrive by summer 2024.
Warrant Officer Class 2 ‘O’, an experienced pilot who is his squadron’s flying instructor, said: ‘I’m very excited about flying the AH-64E. It is more agile, faster, more powerful and it is going to allow us to support ground forces and other air assets much better.
‘The interoperability of this Apache is vastly improved. We have better communications systems, better sensors, the fire control radar has been enhanced, we’ve got lots more radios and Link 16, which allows us to share data quicker and with higher fidelity to ground forces, manned or unmanned aircraft.’
Communications specialist Lance Corporal Dylan Jones programmes aircraft’s computer systems with information needed to carry out missions.
‘The new mission planning software on the AH-64E is far superior,’ he said. ‘It gives us a lot more accuracy in mission planning and gives the aircraft a lot more information, which makes it easier for aircrew to fly and fight the aircraft.
Meanwhile, defence procurement minister Jeremy Quin said the ‘impressive’ fleet would create hundreds of jobs as well as sustain the Army’s ‘battle-winning capabilities’.
A 20-year agreement was signed with Boeing Defence UK to maintain and support the new fleet.
The first period of the contract, to July 2025 with £287 million confirmed, will create more than 200 jobs in the UK, including 165 for the Army Aviation Centre at Middle Wallop, Hampshire, and 45 at Wattisham Flying Station.
One of the army’s fifty new Apache AH-64E attack helicopters at Wattisham Flying Station in Suffolk on January 20
The Apache AH-64E has improved weaponry, communications and threat-detection. British Army soldiers could hardly contain their excitement at the new fleet
The total cost of the full fleet of Apache helicopters, a purchase from the United States, was $560million (£412million)
The Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Sir Chris Tickell in the back seat of the army’s new Apache AH-64E attack helicopter at Wattisham Flying Station, Suffolk
Each attack helicopter has a chain gun that holds 1,200 rounds of 30mm ammunition for maximum destructive capability
Prince Harry served as an Apache Helicopter Pilot/Gunner with 662 Sqd Army Air Corps, from September 2012 for four months until January 2013. He flew the Apache Mk.1, which entered service in 2001. (Pictured at Camp Bastion, southern Afghanistan, where Prince Harry served)
Almost a decade before his infamous exit from Royal duties and his move to California that came as Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle reportedly wanted more privacy, the young Royal flew Apaches in Afghanistan against the Taliban
Prince Harry examines the 30mm cannon of an Apache helicopter with a member of his squadron at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan, in 2012
They were built by Boeing and feature new rotor blades and drivetrain to improve flying performance as well as improved sights, sensors and communications systems to share data with other helicopters
The Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Sir Chris Tickell (left) viewing the army’s new Apache AH-64E attack helicopter at Wattisham Flying Station, Suffolk
Minister for Defence Procurement Jeremy Quinn MP arrives to view the army’s new Apache AH-64E attack helicopter at Wattisham Flying Station, Suffolk
The first period of the contract, to July 2025 with £287 million confirmed, will create more than 200 jobs in the UK, including 165 for the Army Aviation Centre at Middle Wallop, Hampshire, and 45 at Wattisham Flying Station
As well as the 30mm ammunition (right) for the chain gun each helicopter has 76 Hydra 70mm rockets (left) and 16 Hellfire missiles
The first two new AH-64Es were delivered to the British Army from the US Government and arrived at Wattisham Flying Station on 26 Nov 20
Aviation Technicians from 7 Aviation Support Battalion and the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (7 Avn Spt Bn REME) will maintain and service the new aircraft
Flown by the Army Air Corps and forming a crucial component of the 1st Aviation Brigade, the twin-engine Apache is a tandem-seat aerial weapons platform designed to accomplish a variety of missions
two new British Army Apache AH-64E Attack Helicopters being off-loaded from Boeing C17 Globemaster at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, after flying in from Kansas City, America
Communications specialist Lance Corporal Dylan Jones programmes aircraft’s computer systems with information needed to carry out missions. He said: ‘The new mission planning software on the AH-64E is far superior’
The helicopters replaced the Apache Mk.1, which entered service in 2001 and proved battle winning assets in Afghanistan and Libya and were also flown by Prince Harry on training missions when he served in the Army
The new aircraft is already in service with the US Army and other defence forces and has been designed and equipped to offer common configuration
