Page 28 - Australian Defence Magazine April 2020
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   28 SEA POWER   HELICOPTERS
APRIL 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
  out to 16km (from the 8km range of earlier software), so that opens up the opportunity for future munitions, such as the AGM- 179 Joint Air to Ground Missile (JAGM), or (Rafael) Spike or oth- ers,” Jamison says. “Spike has been tested on the Apache and is an option for not only our US Army customer, but for our glob- al customers as well.”
The AH-64E can be acquired
as a new-build helicopter, but
existing AH-64D customers also
have the option of having their
aircraft remanufactured by Boe-
ing on its shared final assembly
line in Phoenix, Arizona. The re-
manufacturing process discards
the old fuselage and replaces in
with a new structure which is manufactured either in South Korea by Korea Aerospace Industries, or in India by Tata.
LONGBOW RADAR AND VERSION 6.0 SOFTWARE
The Longbow fire control radar is manufactured by Longbow LLC (LBL), a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman which actually began 35 years ago with the two manufacturer’s heritage companies, Martin Mari- etta and Westinghouse.
The radar itself has its heritage in the AN/APG-68 radar then in production for the General Dynamics F-16A
Fighting Falcon, but is tailored for the low alti-
tude, nap of the earth missions originally envis-
aged for the Apache in Europe, and designated AN/APG-78. Today almost 500 units have been delivered to customers worldwide.
The Longbow radar is complemented
by Lockheed Martin’s AN/APR-48B Mod-
ernised Radar Frequency Interferometer
(RFI), which is a passive sensor designed
to detect, precisely identify, prioritise and
locate radars in varying threat conditions.
It also interacts with other Apache sensors,
such as the Lockheed Martin Modernised Target Acquisi- tion Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/ PNVS), which is a long-range, precision engagement and pi- lotage electro-optical sensor used for day, night and adverse weather missions.
The Version 6.0 upgrade has added a new Radar Electron- ics Unit to the Longbow system, which adds the maritime ca- pability to the Longbow’s baseline ground targeting, air tar- geting and training modes. Because the upgrade is software driven, it does not require an increase in the power output of the radar to double the detection range to 16km.
“When you look at the reconnaissance mission, you really need situational awareness and now, with a 16km range and a surveillance mode of 360 degrees, you can monitor 800 square kilometres of area or battlespace in a very quick time- frame, so the pilot is not having to look over his shoulder,
or downrange, the radar is doing it for him quickly and ac- curately and, targets are detected and displayed to him. The Apache is a very integrated sensor and weapons suite,” Ron Stanislaw, International Programs manager - Land & Avion- ics of Northrop Grumman’s C4ISR Division said.
“The radar data can be linked directly to M-TADS to cue the EO/IR system to the target. That’s something unique to Apache and it is very valuable in rapidly understanding the situational awareness.”
During the Longbow’s Follow On Test and Evaluation II (FOTE II) activity conducted late last year, the radar successfully detected ‘numerous’ ground and maritime targets at ‘extended detection ranges’, which were engaged and destroyed by JAGM missiles fired from an AH-64E.
  “BETWEEN MAY AND AUGUST 2009, THE UK APACHES COMPLETED AROUND25MISSIONS, STRIKING MORE
THAN 100 TARGETS ON THE GROUND.”
“One of the key discriminators of Apache is that ‘system of sensors’ approach, (including) the passive RFI sensor and its capability to passively detect air defence radars and detect them at very long ranges and hand them off to the radar for prosecution as a areal target or a real threat,” LBL president Jim Messina added. “Then, once the radar determines it, we have
the capability to directly hand off to a missile and launch system from the radar or, if further prosecution of the target is required, then hand off the co-ordinates to the M-TADS so we can prosecute it visually. That system of systems ap- proach is very powerful (and) I don’t believe any other plat- form provides that.”
MARITIME OPERATIONS IN COMBAT
The British Army initially trialled Apache operations from the deck of a warship in 2005 and again in 2009, when two heli- copters conducted training aboard the Royal Navy’s (now re- tired) amphibious assault ship HMS Ocean in October 2009.
ABOVE: An Apache on the static line at the Avalon Air Show in 2017.
    NIGEL PITTAWAY



























































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