Boeing awarded Apache contract

Boeing and the US Army have signed a $276.4m contact for 18 new AH-64D Apache Longbow multi-role combat helicopters.

The contract raises to 45 the number of new-build Apache Longbows on order with the US Army. The US Army also recently contracted for the remanufacture of 96 AH-64A Apaches into AH-64Ds. Boeing will begin delivery of these new-build helicopters in mid-2009 at its manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona.

The US Army uses the Apache Longbow to fulfil attack helicopter and reconnaissance missions. Featuring fully integrated avionics and weapons, plus digital communications capabilities, the Apache Longbow can rapidly detect, classify, prioritise and engage stationary and moving opposition targets at standoff ranges in nearly all weather environments.

The new US Army Apache Longbow aircraft are in addition to the 501 remanufactured AH-64D Apache Longbows built between 1997 and 2006 under two five-year, multi-year contracts.