67 helicopters have been delivered the last was formally handed over at the Farnborough Air Show in July 2004.

The first helicopter entered service in January 2001 designated as the AH mk1. Assembly of the WAH-64 Longbow Apache was carried out in the UK by AgustaWestland. WAH-64 Longbow Apache helicopterĪ consortium of GKN Westland (now AgustaWestland), Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Shorts bid a version of the Longbow Apache for the UK Army attack helicopter requirement which was selected in July 1995. The US Army plans to upgrade all its Apache fleet to block III standard. First flight of the Apache Block III was in July 2008. The block III system development and demonstration (SDD) contract was awarded to Boeing in July 2006.

The new blades, which successfully completed flight testing in May 2004, increase the Apache’s cruise speed, climb rate and payload capability. In December 2009, the maiden flight test of AH-64D Apache with block III structures were completed.īlock III includes increasing digitisation, the joint tactical radio system, enhanced engines and drive systems, capability to control UAVs and new composite rotor blade. In July 2005, the US Army awarded Boeing a development contract for block III improvements, to enter service from 2011.

In October 2007, Boeing delivered the first extended block II to the US Army. Block II included upgrades to the digital communications systems of 96 A-model Apaches to improve communications within the “tactical internet”. The first of the upgraded block II Apaches was delivered to the US Army in February 2003. 501 AH-64A Apaches upgraded to AH-64D standard have been delivered to the US Army. The AH-64D Longbow is fitted with the Longbow millimetre wave fire control radar and the Longbow Hellfire missile. The AH-64D Longbow was deployed by the US Army in Afghanistan as part of Operation Anaconda, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and, from June 2003, in South Korea. It was used in Operation Desert Storm and has supported low intensity and peacekeeping operations worldwide including Turkey, Bosnia and Kosovo. The Apache was first used in combat in 1989 in the US military action in Panama. The US Army has more than 800 Apaches in service, and more than 1,000 have been exported. It entered service with the US Army in 1984 and has been exported to Egypt, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the UK. The Apache is a twin-engined army attack helicopter developed by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing).

Long war 2 laser weapons