Boeing [BA] has accomplished the primary flight of the latest version of its Apache attack helicopter, the AH-64E Version 6.5, while the corporate can be seeking to the Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) to tell development of the following Modernized Apache.
Christina Upah, Boeing’s vice chairman of attack helicopter programs, told Defense Day by day
on Wednesday the following step for AH-64E Version 6.5 will probably be moving into software baseline verification testing early next 12 months.
“The Version 6.5 is absolutely constructing on the Version 6 [software] baseline and making additional improvements to the architecture so it’s an open systems interface. And really it’s that stepping stone to take us to the following generation with our future Modernized Apache,” Upah said during an interview on the Association of the USA Army’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. “Constructing that open systems interface is absolutely the stepping off point to take our software to the following level. One in every of things that we’ll be testing is how we will do more plug-and-play. So in the long run, as we’re integrating latest technologies and capabilities onto the platform, we’ll be poised and prepared to do this much quicker than we’ve got ever done before up to now.”
Mike Reese, Boeing’s senior manager of attack business development, detailed the potential enhancement with Version 6.5, which incorporates the software upgrades to scale back pilot workload.
“From a pilot’s perspective, it makes among the systems more intuitive. It’s easier to operate the Link 16 [network]. It’s easier to operate the fireplace control radar. It’s easier to operate the [manned-unmanned teaming]. It takes among the button pushes out of the sequence,” Reese said.
The Army has previously said its targeting fiscal 12 months 2026 to start fielding the AH-64E Apache Version 6.5 “via retrofit.”
In March, Boeing was awarded the second and expected final multi-year contract for AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from the Army, which runs through 2027 and might be value as much as $3.8 billion (Defense Day by day, March 22).
Boeing has previously told Defense Day by day it “absolutely” believes there will probably be future procurement deals for Apache beyond the brand new multi-year award, with Upah echoing that outlook on Wednesday.
“We’re absolutely working with the U.S. Army on a post-Multi-12 months II contracting mechanism. I won’t let you know what that’s because we don’t know, but we’re working with the U.S. Army on that. We’ve got plenty of [foreign military sale] customers which can be desperate to purchase the Apache. So we’ve got some acquisitions to process today. And right away, for Multi-12 months II, we’ve got very limited, what we call, slots on our assembly line to support any additional aircraft. So we all know there’s going to be something subsequent,” Upah said.
The State Department in August approved a potential $12 billion cope with Poland for nearly 100 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, which followed Warsaw’s announcement last September it had chosen Boeing because the winner of its KRUK program to search out a alternative for its Mi-24 helicopter fleet (Defense Day by day, Aug. 21).
Reese on Wednesday also detailed how the Army’s FARA program is informing Boeing’s considering on priorities for Modernized Apache, the following step beyond Version 6.5.
“We’re spending company funds what we will do for our transmission to offer pilots more power, to find a way to hold more payload and to have more range and endurance and more speed as well. It’s not going be [Future Vertical Lift]-like speed, but it surely’ll be a rise from the present speed of that aircraft,” Reese said.
FARA is the Army’s program to field a brand new scout attack helicopter, having chosen Bell’s [TXT] 360 Invictus and Sikorsky’s [LMT] Raider X designs for the present competitive prototyping phase.
Rodney Davis, the Army’s acting program executive officer for aviation, told reporters on Tuesday he expects the FARA competitive prototypes to start flying by “in regards to the middle of next 12 months,” with each Bell and Sikorsky set to receive the brand new GE Aviation [GE]-built T901 helicopter engines this month (Defense Day by day, Oct. 10).
TJ Jamison, Boeing’s director of attack business development, said the corporate sees the Apache operating alongside FARA in the long run, to offer Army commanders increased options on the battlefield.
“[The Apache] has at all times been the premier attack helicopter on this planet, absolute confidence about it. Now it’s going to turn out to be the premier reconnaissance aircraft on this planet as well. And mix that with the lethality of its attack capability, it would definitely dominate [multi-domain operations] out into the 2050s,” Jamison said.
Upah said Boeing is concentrated on expanding the aircraft’s “scout capabilities” with Modernized Apache, adding the corporate envisions the long run platform having “more network capability, long-range precision fires in addition to deep sensing.”