HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- The Army this week began accepting production models of a technologically advanced, more capable and more lethal version of its long-serving Apache attack helicopter.
The first AH-64D Apache "Block III" rolled out in a ceremony at Boeing's plant in Mesa, Ariz., after a traditional blessing by Apache tribal leaders. It is the first of 690 the Army is to receive in the coming years, of which only 56 will be all-new aircraft.
The others will, like the Apache delivered this week, be 21st century-built airframes and with some components from older model Apaches.
Under the Block III program, the aging helicopters get so many improvements to the engine, transmission, rotor blades, avionics and other systems they are essentially new, said Lt. Col. Dan Bailey. He's been product manager for Apache Block III in the Program Executive Office for Aviation on Redstone Arsenal since 2009, and recently got the chance to fly the "new" Apache.
"It's like trying to hold back an Appaloosan stud," said Bailey, who broke horses in his pre-Army youth. "It wants to go. It has more power than we have had in the Apache fleet, ever.
"It will go faster, it will go higher, it will carry more. It's going to make a huge difference, not only in Afghanistan, but across the entire combat environment," he said. "It's a big deal."
Boeing in 2009 chose Science and Engineering Services to take older Apaches apart for the Block III program. Today, about 105 people work at SES's West Aviation and Integration Facility near Huntsville International Airport, said retired Brig. Gen. E.J. Sinclair, CEO. They "depopulate" the helicopters, taking thousands of components apart, carefully inspecting and repairing them and the airframe, and then sending the pieces on to Arizona to become the core of the next-generation Apache.
SES has "depopped" 29 of the helicopters and will do 22 more under the Low Rate Initial Production phase of the Block III program. And the company will be seeking the contract to do the same job on the 634 more helicopters to be remanufactured.
"We're hoping to do that work in Huntsville, obviously," Sinclair said Thursday. "It's been a very, very successful program."
The ceremony in Arizona was a great event, said Sinclair, who is also former commanding general of Fort Rucker, home to the Army's flight school and Aviation Center of Excellence.
He and others like retired Lt. Gen. Tony Jones, who is now Boeing's Huntsville site executive, and former Program Executive Officer for Aviation Paul Bogosian, spent their final years in the Army trying to get the Block III upgrades developed for soldiers.
"Now, we're all in the civilian world in Huntsville, and being able to still be part of that and seeing the plan actually executed, that's great," Sinclair said.
The Block III Apache delivered this week is the first to incorporate all the technology, powerplant, materials and other improvements. It is the first that isn't a test aircraft and is configured precisely as Army pilots will get the upgraded Apaches, Bailey said.
It will be assigned to the 1-1 Attack Reconnaissance Battalion of Fort Riley, Kan., he said. Their pilots will go to Boeing's plant in Arizona for training on the new Apache and its features, which include Manned-Unmanned Teaming or MUMT - the ability for the two-man crews to operate Unmanned Aircraft Systems while flying the helicopter. In March or April, the crews will take their new Apaches to the National Training Center for an "Initial Operating Test" in the hands of these real soldiers, not test pilots.
Bailey said the Army this week also bought its first version of the UAS control system developed for MUMT by Longbow Limited, a joint venture of Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.
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