Among the many weapons within the U.S. Army’s arsenal, none epitomizes the service the best way the heavily armed, heavily armored AH-64 Apache attack helicopter does. The Apache has proven equally adept within the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa, and elsewhere, and has a proven track record of fighting wide-ranging foes from guerrillas to predominant battle tanks. Being essentially the most successful attack helicopter of all time, the Apache is as adroit and lethal because the Army itself because of a slew of regular upgrades. Here’s what makes it so incredibly badass.
Cold War Origins
Within the late Nineteen Sixties, the U.S. Army fielded its first attack helicopter, the AH-1 Cobra. Developed from the UH-1 Huey as an armed helicopter escort and close-air support platform, the Cobra was highly effective within the jungles of Vietnam, but suffered from its own limitations. The Cobra had only a single engine, a shortcoming that limited its payload and operating altitude, and lacked redundancy if enemy fire damaged the engine. The Cobra also lacked a long-range sighting system and equally long-range weapons, forcing the crew to get in close and strafe enemy targets—exposing the pilot and crew to anti-aircraft gunfire.
Within the Seventies, with Vietnam within the rear-view window, the Army decided it needed a brand new attack helicopter, one designed from the bottom as much as deliver ordnance against ground targets. The Army’s attention had been reoriented toward defending Western Europe from the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, which maintained greater than 45,000 tanks on NATO’s doorstep. If it got here to war, NATO could be outnumbered, and a flying tank killer would go a good distance toward blunting an enemy attack. The Army, which had begun fitting TOW anti-tank missiles on Cobra helicopters to destroy Soviet tanks, also wanted a brand new long-range missile because the helicopter’s primary armament—one that would turn tanks just like the T-62 and T-72 into piles of scrap from outside the range of enemy air-defense guns.
Stung by the lack of greater than 5,000 helicopters through the Vietnam War, the Army also wanted an attack helicopter that would survive in a lethal air-defense environment. The armies of the Soviet Union and its allies would protect their advancing tank columns with handheld surface-to-air missiles just like the SA-14 shoulder-fired missile; the ZSU-23-4 “Shilka,” a tracked armored vehicle equipped with 4 radar-controlled 23mm rapid-fire cannons; and the 9K33 “Osa” surface-to-air missile system. An armored cabin, blades, and two engines for redundancy were considered essential upgrades for any second-generation attack helo.
Enter the Apache
Chosen in 1976 because the winner of the Army’s Advanced Attack Helicopter program, the AH-64 Apache entered service in 1985. The spindly, insectoid Apache looked prefer it was moving even while sitting still on the tarmac. The helicopter was powered by two GE T700 turboshaft engines, each generating as much as 1,695 shaft horsepower, giving the aircraft a top speed of 189 miles per hour. The four-bladed predominant rotor will be folded for transport in C-17 and C-5 transport aircraft.
The Apache’s “killer app,” the important thing capability that made it indispensable on the battlefield, was its ability to fireside the brand new AGM-114 Hellfire missile—a laser-guided anti-tank missile with a variety of 8 kilometers, or greater than double the range of the older TOW missile. The Apache could carry as much as 16 Hellfires directly, and a single helicopter could theoretically destroy a whole company of ten Soviet tanks, all while staying out of range of enemy air defenses. Alternatively, the Apache could carry eight Hellfires and two pods of 19 Hydra-70 70mm unguided rockets (effective against dismounted infantry or light armored vehicles) or 4 pods of Hydra-70 rockets.
The Apache’s only built-in weapon is the M320 chain gun. This single-barrel 30mm aircraft cannon fires eight-ounce shells at a rate of 625 rounds per minute. The high-explosive, dual-purpose projectiles are designed to decimate enemy troops, soft-skinned vehicles like trucks and jeeps, and even light armored vehicles just like the BTR-70 armored personnel carrier. A posh aiming system referred to as the Goal Acquisition and Designation Sight allows the aircrew to aim the weapon at a goal by merely pointing his or her head at it.
The Apache was certainly one of the primary weapon systems to incorporate forward-looking infrared night vision. The Goal Acquisition and Designation Sight/Pilot’s Night Vision Sensor (TADS/PNVS) allowed Apache pilots to focus on the enemy at night, or in daytime locate armored vehicles in brush or other cover that were running their engines, producing a “hot” thermal signature. This also allowed Apache crews to see through battlefield smoke and smokescreens—even Warsaw Pact smokescreens—taking away a significant advantage from an advancing enemy force.
Tactics
The Apache is best described as a tank sniper, using the range of its Hellfire missiles to destroy armored targets at long range. This keeps air-defense threats to the helicopter at a minimum, gives the crews time to discover and interact their targets, and quickly works against enemy morale. Under ideal conditions, 4 Apache helicopters—with a complete of 64 Hellfire missiles, engaging a battalion of 31 T-72 tanks at six kilometers—could wipe it out in a matter of minutes.
In Western Europe through the Cold War, Apaches trained to work along with Air Force A-10 Warthog jets and Army field artillery to stop massed Soviet tank attacks. In an idea referred to as the Joint Air Attack Team, a barrage of artillery would suppress enemy anti-air systems, forcing gunners to take cover and damaging radars and missile systems. After the artillery ceased, Apaches and Warthogs would open fire with Hellfire and Maverick missiles, savaging the Soviet advance.
Within the Nineties and early 2000s, it was widely expected that Apaches could conduct “deep attacks” against targets behind enemy lines. This was an unrealistic expectation laid bare through the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when 32 Apache helicopters of the eleventh Attack Helicopter Regiment conducted a deep attack on the Iraqi Republican Guards Medina Division. The raid involved flying over population centers, giving up the element of surprise, and allowed anyone with a gun to open fire on the raiding party. Enemy fire was so heavy that 31 helicopters were damaged and one was shot down, leading to the capture of two aircrew. The raid was the tip of the Apache—or any armed helicopter for that matter—as a platform expected to overfly the enemy, and standoff attacks at a distance became the popular method.
In lower intensity conflicts reminiscent of Afghanistan or post-invasion Iraq, Apaches excel at close-air support, screening, and convoy protection to U.S. and other ground forces. The Apache’s electro-optical sensors allowed the crew to look at possible enemy forces and differentiate between friendly and enemy forces and unarmed civilians, even at night. The dearth of surface-to-air missiles or anti-aircraft guns made Apaches largely invulnerable to enemy fire, and their speed and agility meant they might quickly react to a report of troops involved with the enemy.
Combat Record
The AH-64’s baptism of fireplace took place in December 1989, through the American invasion of Panama. Eleven Apaches, flown into the Central American country before the invasion, used their Hellfire missiles to supply surgical strikes in support of ground troops at night. The necessity for the element of surprise restricted the quantity of hardware that may very well be delivered to bear against Panamanian forces, and the Apaches were likely the one aerial platform in-theater able to fighting at night, delivering precision-guided ordnance, and communicating with ground forces.
Nine months later, Apaches of the a hundred and first Airborne Division (Air Assault) deployed to Saudi Arabia in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The Apaches were first tasked with defending the oil-rich country if Saddam Hussein continued his drive south, but in November were reinforced with other Apache units from the continental U.S. and Germany. After January 1991, when the international coalition attacked to liberate Kuwait, Apaches were credited with the destruction of 278 tanks and 900 other targets.
After 9/11, Apaches were deployed to Afghanistan, where they provided close-air support and convoy protection for U.S. and coalition troops. Apaches fulfilled an identical role against the Iraqi insurgency and against Islamic State forces operating in Syria and Iraq. Sarcastically, though designed for the European battlefield, the AH-64 has never actually fought in Europe.
The Future
The AH-64 is anticipated to serve for a minimum of one other 20 years, with the Army expecting the helicopter to serve “well into the 2040s.” The newest version, the AH-64E Apache Guardian, is the third Apache generation and features a Modernized Goal Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision System (MTADS/PNVS); the substitute for the Hellfire missile, the brand new Joint Air to Ground Missile (JAGM); improved engines; composite rotors; the flexibility to look for targets at sea; and the flexibility to regulate drones. The mixing of drones just like the MQ-1 Gray Eagle and MQ-2 Shadow into Apache units allows helicopter crews to send drones into dangerous areas first, identifying threats and targets without endangering helicopters and crews.
The Takeaway
The AH-64 Apache set a brand new standard for attack helicopters, spawning a league of international competitors including the Eurocopter Tiger, Ka-52 Alligator, and the Changhe Z-10. None, nevertheless, have a combat record anywhere near as impressive because the Apache. The Apache is so good at what it does that it’s doubtful if a brand new helicopter, tiltrotor, or other aircraft type introduced today would bring enough latest capabilities to make it worthwhile.
Will the Apache really make it to 75 years? Count on it.