March 4th, 2023
7minute read
In todays article about the AH-64 Apache, Will Dabbs, M.D.
gives us the full story of this attack helicopter.
Ihave an acquaintance who was manning a Ma Deuce .50-cal.
The Boeing AH-64 Apache is a proven attack helicopter design used by the United States and its allies for close air support. Image: CWO4 Daniel McClinton/U.S. Army
The bad guys had done their homework and sited their attack well.
Fire poured in from PKM belt-fed machine guns alongside numerous AK rifles.RPG rocketsarced into the convoy as well.
Such combat actions become an almost sentient thing.
Fittings outside the Apache allow each aircraft to extract another downed Apache crew. The downed pilots snap their survival vests onto the gunship and go. Image: NARA
The technical terminology is gaining fire superiority.
The two elements exchange rounds until one side seems to gain an upper hand.
At that point the other side either melts away to fight another day or stays and dies.
Two Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters with the United States Army’s 6th Cavalry Regiment depart RAAF Base Townsville on their way to Williamson Airfield during Exercise Talisman Saber 17. Image: Cpl. Oliver Carter/Australian Army
My pal said he felt the fear welling up.
Unbeknownst to him, the convoy commander was frantically working the radio.
Much hay is made about the utility of American rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers.
An AH-64E Apache of the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade departs for flight operations during Pegasus Forge IV on January 31, 2019. Image: U.S. Army
However, I think the most effective weapon in any American arsenal is that encrypted radio.
A pair of AH-64 Apache attack helicopters swept over the convoy in moments, spitting death.
The thermal imaging system built into the aircraft picked out hidden insurgents regardless of concealment.
An AH-64 Apache helicopter from the United States Army’s 6th Cavalry Regiment departs RAAF Base Townsville on its way to Williamson airfield during Exercise Talisman Saber 17. Image: Cpl. Oliver Carter/Australian Army
The M230 chain gun chattered out 30mm high explosive rounds while Hydra 70 rockets split the late afternoon sky.
In moments the insurgents were all fleeing, dying or dead.
Clearly, the AH-64 Apache offers simply otherworldly firepower.
Royal Australian Navy pilot, Lieutenant Natalie Davies, has a close look at the cockpit of an U.S. Army AH-64 Apache near Kabul, Afghanistan during Operation Slipper. Image: Sgt. Ray Vance/Australian Army
The Apache was everything the preceding Cobra wished it could be.
For starters, the AH-64A had two T700-GE-701 turboshaft engines.
This arrangement offered greater redundancy and survivability in combat.
An AH-64 in flight over Chick Do Island in the Republic of Korea. Image: MSgt. Sabastian J. Sciotti/NARA
The additional power margins also allowed significant improvements in avionics, armor, and armament over the Cobra.
The Apache is crewed by a pilot in back and a co-pilot/gunner up front.
It sports three main weapons.
U.S. Army pilot assigned to 25th Infantry Division prepares to fly an AH-64 Apache helicopter for aerial gunnery qualification on Schofield Barracks, Hi., Nov. 29, 2018. Image: SSgt. Ian Morales/U.S. Army
The M230 30mm chain gun is actually classified as an area weapon system.
This allows the gunner to fire the weapon off-axis and put rounds wherever he is looking at the time.
Original Hydra 70 rockets were unguided, though there are guided versions in service today.
Soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division load rockets into the M261 launcher on the AH-64D Longbow Apache. Image: Sgt. Sarah D. Sangster/U.S. Army
Each packs roughly the same downrange thump as a 105mm howitzer round.
The Apaches primary weapon, however, is the AGM-114 Hellfire missile.
Hellfire stands for Helicopter-Launched, Fire and Forget.
A Dutch AH-64 Apache heads out on patrol in the Oruzgan Province of Afghanistan. Apache helicopters from the Netherlands Armed Forces were deployed to provide close air support to coalition forces. Image: Cpl. Hamish Paterson/Australian Army
Each missile weighs about 100 pounds, and the aircraft can carry up to sixteen of them.
The Hellfire was originally designed to ride an invisible laser beam to its target.
Current versions will reach out to between 7 and 11 kilometers.
A view of the cockpit control panel in an AH-64 Apache helicopter training simulator. January 1, 1984. Image: NARA
Staying Abreast
The Apache has been steadily upgraded since its initial introduction in 1986.
The latest AH-64E Apache Guardian is 48 feet long and sports a max gross weight of 23,000 pounds.
Maximum speed in level flight is around 150 knots, or 172 mph.
AH-64 Apache attack helicopter fires at targets with an M230 chain-driven cannon during gunnery qualification on Schofield Barracks, Hi., Nov. 30, 2018. Image: 1st Lt. Ryan DeBooy/U.S. Army
Maximum ordnance loadout is either 16 Hellfires or 76 Hydra 70 rockets.
The gun is electrically-driven via what looks like a bicycle chain and gimbles in a mount underneath the fuselage.
The AH-64E now utilizes upgraded T700-GE-701D turboshaft engines driving a four-bladed composite rotor system.
U.S. Army Spc. Scott Stranne (left) and Spc. Daniel Peterson perform maintenance on an Apache’s 30 mm chain gun. Image: MCS John M. Hageman/U.S. Navy
The targeting system can classify and threat prioritize up to 128 separate targets in less than a minute.
The newest Apache really doesnt care whether it is day or night.
As the pilot moves his head the turreted sensors follow.
Lt. Col. John Davis briefs Lt. Gen. Rick Burr on the on a live-fire exercise with AH-64 Apache helicopters andM142 HIMARSin Australia. Image: Cpl. Tristan Kennedy/Australian Army
The result is unprecedented situational awareness and lethality day or night.
Ruminations
Nearly 2,500 Apaches have been produced.
In addition to large-scale domestic production, the Apache is also built under license in the UK.
A U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter lands with the sun low over Camp Taji, Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Image: TSgt. Russell E. Cooley IV/U.S.A.F.
The days of chivalry and fairness in war are gone never to return.
Nowadays it really doesnt much matter how you play the game so long as you win.
It is the most effective helicopter gunship in the world.
