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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1458.PDF
r 1 US combat helicopters detector array/cooler. While Apache relies on a monocle helmet-mounted display, the RAH-66's NVPS and image-intensified TV are displayed on a binocular helmet. The main external difference with EOSS is the low observable design of the nose- mounted turret. EOTADS includes an aided target detection mode, which will be a growth option for Arrowhead. Image fusion of the M-TADS FUR and image-intensified TV is also planned for Lot 12 of Block 3 Apache Longbow onwards, while later versions of Comanche call for fusion of the FLIR and the Longbow FCR to automati cally identify and prioritise targets. Cross leveraging There is also a high degree of cross-leverag ing between the Longbow radar being developed for Comanche and FCR improve ments planned for Block 3 Apache. The RAH-66 radar will be repackaged into a low observable mast-mounted housing, which compared with the Apache Longbow will provide a 30dB reduction in signature and weigh half as much. The Block 3 upgrade to Longbow will provide extended range, a lit toral mode for target classification and faster processing by adopting the same radar elec tronic unit as is planned for the RAH-66. The list of other improvements planned for Block 3 is fairly long and includes efforts to address the helicopter's operational and support costs. These include the General Electric T700-701D engine common with the Sikorsky Black Hawk, a new composite four-blade main rotor with a redesigned swept tip, a 3,400shp (2,530kW) improved durability gearbox. Other planned additions include a new dual-mode laser, the BAE Systems ALQ-212 Suite of Integrated Infrared Countermeasures, embedded diag nostics and improved maintenance manu als. Plans to fit a new fly-by-wire flight-con trol system have proved too costly and have been deferred, possibly to a follow-on Block 4 Apache upgrade. The future of Block 4, which could include a new 3,000shp engine, new composite airframe structures and even directed energy weapons, hinges on the development of Comanche, on the capa bility of systems such as the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft, and on whether there is scope for a joint programme, with the US Marine Corps looking eventually to replace its Bell AH-lZs. "Maybe one day Comanche can grow and then you can have a common recon naissance and attack helicopter fleet," says Palorta. "In the meantime, you have to con tinue with the Apache programme and in another five years, we'll look at Apache and where Comanche is and if it can grow, and then make a decision on another Block or if Comanche can do the job." • OPERATIONS Fortunes of war The fortunes of the Boeing AH-64 Apache have ebbed and flowed with the succession of conflicts in which the attack helicopter has been engaged over recent years. The low point was certainly the aborted Task Force Hawk Kosovo deployment to Albania 1999, and the high point Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan two years later. The final verdict on the helicopter's performance in Iraq is not yet in, but the debate is in full flow. Operation Iraqi Freedom marked the combat debut of the AH-64D Apache Longbow, which accounted for six of the nine Apache battalions deployed with the 3rd Infantry and 101 st Airborne Assault division. The US Army had a total of 120 AH-64DS and 50 -64A machines in theatre, which clocked up about 6,900h and generated more than 1,000 sorties with no crews killed. Five helicopters suffered damage from "brown out" desert landings, of which at least two are write-offs. The battle that generated the great est interest in the popular media was near Karbala on the night of 23-24 March, when a force of 18 AH-64Ds from the 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment flew into an ambush care fully laid by the Iraqi Republican Guard. One helicopter put down after losing an engine and having its weapons system disabled and the two-man crew were subsequently captured. The remaining machines returned to base with vary ing degrees of damage, but were all back in operation within 96h. "The Iraqis have had the last 12 years to study the Apache and on that one night managed to put up a wall of fire and ambush the helicopters," says a source familiar with the operation. "We didn't anticipate this reaction from the Iraqis and were a little surprised. However, we recovered and didn't make the same mistake again. We made more use of combined arms and close air support to smoke out attackers, dispersed aircraft and made better use of intelligence to better prepare target areas." In response to criticism of the heli copter in the press, the US Army and Boeing have mounted an information campaign to spotlight the Apache's successes. In a preliminary account given by Lt Gen Richard Cody, deputy chief of staff for operations and plans, the 101st alone destroyed 866 targets, including 82 tanks, 174 artillery pieces, 183 air defence and 142 infantry fight ing vehicles, and eight surface-to-air missiles. The 3rd Infantry Division 1-3 Battalion accounted for a further 119 destroyed targets. The Iraqi conflict once again vali dated the Apache's ability to absorb heavy punishment from enemy ground fire and continue operating. At least one machine took a hit from a rocket-propelled grenade in the tail cone, returned safely to base and was quickly operating again with tape over the holes. More systematic fixes are in the planning pipeline to address some current limitations. This includes a new second-generation FLIR with twice the range of the current system allowing greater stand-off range when positively identifying targets and avoiding traps like Karbala. APACHE TCDL INSTALLATION RF equipment and directional antenna assembly RFI receiver Radome FLIGHT Airborne modem assembly (replaces FCR LPRF LRU) 92 10-16 JUNE 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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