The Boeing Co., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $32,577,153 modification (P00082) to contract W58RGZ-16-C-0023 to incorporate a directed change order for the remanufacture of twelve Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter and six-part numbers for the tail rotor blades. Work will be performed in Mesa, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 1, 2024. Fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $33,040,693 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
The Boeing AH-64 Apache is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vision systems. It is armed with a 30 mm (1.18 in) M230 chain gun carried between the main landing gear, under the aircraft’s forward fuselage, and four hardpoints mounted on stub-wing pylons for carrying armament and stores, typically a mixture of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and Hydra 70 rocket pods. The AH-64 has significant systems redundancy to improve combat survivability.
1-229th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion. With the fielding of these aircraft, the 1-229th ARB, becomes first operational unit to add the Apache V6 aircraft to its inventory. (Photo Courtesy Boeing Mesa)
In 2017, Boeing and the US government signed the first five-year, $3.4 billion contract through which the Army, and an undisclosed foreign military customer, were to acquire the “E” variant of the Apache. As part of that contract, the US Army was to receive 244 remanufactured Apaches, while 24 new ones were to go to the international customer. The AH-64E is a modernised version of the AH-64D. The army is upgrading its attack helicopters to the “E” variant as part of its effort to sustain the Apache fleet through the year 2040.
The latest “E” variant includes the ability of the aircrew to control the flight path and the payload of an unmanned air vehicle, typically Textron Systems’ RQ-7B Shadow or General Atomic Aeronautical Systems’ MQ-1C Gray Eagle. Aircraft performance is also improved via the GE Aviation T700-701D turboshaft, composite main rotor blades, and an improved rotor drive system. Other upgrades include enhanced avionics, integration of communications Link 16-related hardware and software, and a cognitive decision aiding system.
