The Netherlands has received approval from the US Department of State for a potential purchase of Lockheed Martin’s AGM-179A Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM).
Valued at around $215 million, the prospective deal would cover the supply of 296 of the precision-guided weapons, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on 12 June.
“These systems will be employed by [Boeing] AH-64 Apache attack helicopters operated by the Royal Netherlands Air Force,” the DSCA says.
“The Netherlands intends to… modernise its armed forces and expand its capability to strengthen its homeland defence and deter regional threats,” it adds, while noting that the acquisition also will enhance “interoperability with the United States and other allies”.
Dutch Apaches have until this point been operated with the Lockheed AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missile.
Aviation analytics company Cirium records the Netherlands’ Defence Helicopter Command as currently operating 14 E-model Apaches, with another 14 of the type still to be remanufactured from the earlier AH-64D standard.
