Page 26 - Australian Defence Magazine April 2020

26 SEA POWER HELICOPTERS
APRIL 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
APACHE AT SEA
While the Commonwealth’s requirements for a replacement armed reconnaissance helicopter (ARH) capability, to be acquired under Project Land 4503, have yet to be made public, maritime operations will no doubt form a key element.
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
T HE ADF has been developing an amphibious warfare capabil- ity for a number of years now and has recently certified an Air Combat Element (ACE), comprising all three of Army’s com- bat helicopters, for operations aboard the Navy’s two Landing Helicopter Dock ships, HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Canberra and the Landing Ship Dock (LSD) vessel, HMAS Choules.
The current ARH capability is represented by the Airbus Helicopters Tiger ARH, but Land 4503 seeks to replace the incumbent helicopter with a new platform from around the middle of the decade. Contenders include an upgraded ver- sion of the Tiger, together with the Bell AH-1Z Viper and Boeing’s AH-64E Apache attack helicopter. A request for Tender (RFT) is expected to be released in the fourth quar- ter of this year, at which time the Commonwealth’s specific requirements will be revealed.
The Apache has been widely deployed aboard US Navy am- phibious warships and the British Army’s Leonardo Apache AH.1s (a license-built version, similar to the US Army’s AH- 64D) has seen combat in Libya, operating from the deck of a Royal Navy vessel.
The Boeing AH-64E is the latest version of the Apache family, which first entered service, in AH-64A form, in 1986 and today the helicopter is in use with 16 countries around the world, with in excess of 2000 helicopters delivered. The US Army alone has a program of record for 791 AH-64Es.
The latest version offers a range of capabilities which the US manufacturer says makes it well suited for the maritime environment, including the Longbow fire control radar, which has recently undergone a significant technology insert to confer enhanced maritime capability.
AH-64E CAPABILITIES
The Apache was originally designed in the Cold War period as a counter to the threat of Soviet tanks on the plains of Eu- rope, where NATO considered war would begin with a rapid and overwhelming armoured thrust westward.
The original AH-64A variant gave way to the AH-64D in the 1997 timeframe, which was the first version to include the Longbow radar and enhanced sensors. The Delta model remains in widespread use today with the US Army and in- ternational customers but, the increased capabilities it of- fered have been somewhat offset by increased weight over
time. This was particularly highlighted in Afghanistan when it was often required to operate in ‘hot and high’ conditions. The Apache has an extensive combat history, including the initial coalition strikes in Iraq during the first Gulf War and has been in continuous operation with the US Army and a
number of its allies in the Middle East for several decades. To redress the problems when operating in hot and high con- ditions and as part of the US Army’s ongoing modernisation program, which will take it out to 2060, the current production AH-64E, known as the Apache Guardian, was developed and entered service in 2011. Improvements over the earlier AH- 64D include a new, cleaner and lighter fuselage and an up- rated drive train which utilises face drive technology, capable of absorbing more power from the engine. This has allowed the Apache’s General Electric T700-GE-701C engines to be
upgraded to the more powerful T700-GE-701D variant.