Boeing Kickstarts Manufacturing Of Apache 'Tank-Buster' Helicopters For The Army; To Be Delivered By February 2024

In a significant milestone, United States-based Boeing has commenced the manufacturing of the first of six AH-64E Apache attack-helicopters destined for the Indian Army, reported VayuAerospace.

This comes after Tata Boeing Aerostructures Limited (TBAL) — a joint venture between Boeing and Tata — handed over the first fuselage of the helicopter to Boeing for further assembly in January 2023.

It is worth noting that, TBAL is the sole supplier of Apache fuselage to Boeing, which does the final assembly in its plant in Mesa, Arizona.

TBAL has, until now, delivered 190 fuselages to Boeing.

The Army has, after a long turf war with the Indian Air Force (IAF) over the ownership of attack helicopters, ordered six Apaches from Boeing in 2020 for $930 million.

The IAF already operates 22 AH-64E Apache helicopters, which were bought from the United States in September 2015 along with 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, in a deal worth $3 billion.

These helicopters will now be assembled in the Boeing assembly line at Mesa, Arizona.

According to reports, the first Apache is expected to be delivered to the Army by February 2024, with the remaining five delivered within the next three months by April 2024.

The training of pilots and technicians started in the US, in December of last year.

The AH-64E Apache 'tank-buster' helicopters are advanced attack-helicopters that can be armed with 16 hellfire precision-guided anti-tank and stinger air-to-air missiles.

Of the IAF's 22 Apaches, 11 are equipped with the longbow fire control radar system. Along with the longbow radars, these missiles can wreak havoc on enemy armor.

At the peak of the military crisis with China in 2020 in eastern Ladakh, Apache helicopters were spotted flying in and out of the Leh air base.

Apache attack-helicopters were also spotted at a base in Sikkim, near the border with Tibet, in February of this year, as the disengagement with China was underway in some parts of eastern Ladakh.