The image from the PNVS is displayed in the monocular eyepiece of the Honeywell integrated helmet And display sighting system, IHADSS, worn by the pilot and copilot / gunner. PNVS consists of a FLIR in a rotating turret located on the nose above the TADS. The turret-mounted TADS provides direct-view optics, television and three-fields-of-view forward-looking infrared (FLIR) to carry out search, detection and recognition, and Litton laser rangefinder / designator. The target acquisition designation sight, TADS (AN/ASQ-170), and the pilot night vision sensor, PNVS (AN/AAQ-11), were developed by Lockheed Martin. The processors determine the location, speed and direction of travel of a maximum of 256 targets. The radar dome is unmasked for a single radar scan and then remasked. The Longbow Apache can effect an attack in 30 seconds. The short wavelength allows a very narrow beamwidth, which is resistant to countermeasures. An advantage of millimetre wave is that it performs under poor-visibility conditions and is less sensitive to ground clutter. The Longbow fire control radar incorporates an integrated radar frequency interferometer for passive location and identification of radar-emitting threats. The AH-64D Longbow Apache is equipped with the Northrop Grumman millimetre-wave Longbow radar. In the close support role, the helicopter carries 16 Hellfire missiles on four four-rail launchers and four air-to-air missiles. The Longbow Apache carries the combination of armaments chosen for the particular mission. The US Army awarded BAE Systems a development contract for the APKWS II in April 2006.īritish Army AH mk1 helicopters are armed with the CRV7 70mm rocket system from Bristol Aerospace of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Plans to arm the Apache with the advanced precision kill weapon system (APKWS) II, a laser-guided version of the Hydra were shelved in the FY2008 budget. The Apache can be equipped with air-to-air missiles (Stinger, AIM-9 Sidewinder, Mistral and Sidearm) and the advanced precision kill weapon system (APKWS), formerly known as Hydra, family of guided and unguided 70mm rockets.
#GUNSHIP III FULL#
The AH-64D is armed with the Lockheed Martin / Boeing AGM-114D Longbow Hellfire air-to-surface missile which has a millimetre wave seeker which allows the missile to perform in full fire and forget mode. The helicopter has capacity for up to 1,200 rounds of ammunition. It provides a rate of fire of 625 rounds a minute. Apache weaponsĪ 30mm automatic Boeing M230 chain gun is located under the fuselage. In March 2007, the UK Ministry of Defence announced that, by September 2007, all UK Army Apache helicopters would be based at Wattisham Airbase in Suffolk. The AH mk1 helicopter has also been operated successfully on HMS Ocean helicopter carrier and, in November 2006, made a first landing on Invincible Class aircraft carrier, HMS Ark Royal. The other two regiments are expected were fully operational by 2010. Initial operating capability was achieved in October 2004 and, in May 2005, the first of three Army Air Corps regiments of 18 helicopters was declared fully operational. 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. Deliveries began in November 2011.Ī 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.
#GUNSHIP III UPGRADE#
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.
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