The Boeing Co., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $487,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Apache AH-64 engineering services and technical support. There are over 1,200 Apache aircraft in operation with the U.S. Army and international defense forces. The attack helicopters have recorded more than 4 million flight hours. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 6, 2026. In June, Boeing received a $169.5 million contract from the Army for a long lead effort in support of the full-rate production of lot 12 Apache. 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)
The AH-64 Apache has a four-blade main rotor and a four-blade tail rotor. The crew sits in tandem, with the pilot sitting behind and above the co-pilot/gunner. Both crew members are capable of flying the aircraft and performing methods of weapon engagements independently. The AH-64 is powered by two General Electric T700 turboshaft engines with high-mounted exhausts on either side of the fuselage. Various models of engines have been used on the Apache; those in British service use engines from Rolls-Royce. In 2004, General Electric Aviation began producing more powerful T700-GE-701D engines, rated at 2,000 shp (1,500 kW) for AH-64Ds.
The U.S. Army is the primary operator of the AH-64. It has also become the primary attack helicopter of multiple nations, including Egypt, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom. It has been built under license in the United Kingdom as the AgustaWestland Apache. American AH-64s have served in conflicts in Panama, the Persian Gulf, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Israel used the Apache in its military conflicts in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. British and Dutch Apaches have seen deployments in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
