The Boeing AH-64 Apache is an American four-blade, twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type
landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a two-man crew.
It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vision systems.
It is armed with a 30 mm M230 chain gun carried between the main landing gear, under the aircraft's
forward fuselage.
It has four hardpoints mounted on stub-wing pylons, typically carrying a mixture of AGM-114
Hellfire missiles and Hydra 70 rocket pods.
The AH-64 has a large amount of systems redundancy to improve combat survivability.
The AH-64 is adaptable to numerous different roles within its context as Close Combat Attack.
In addition to the 30 mm M230E1 Chain Gun, the Apache carries a range of external stores
and weapons on its stub-wing pylons, typically a mixture of AGM-114 Hellfire anti-tank missiles,
and Hydra 70 general-purpose unguided 70 mm rockets.
One 18-aircraft Apache battalion equipped with Hellfire missiles is capable of destroying
288 tanks.
Since 2005, the Hellfire missile is sometimes outfitted with a thermobaric warhead; designated
AGM-114N, it is intended for use against ground forces and urban warfare operations.
The use of thermobaric "enhanced blast" weapons, such as the AGM-114N, has been a point of
controversy.
In October 2015, the U.S. Army ordered its first batch of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon
System guided 70 mm rockets for the Apache.
Boeing has suggested that the AH-64 could be fitted with a directed energy weapon.
The company has developed a small laser weapon, initially designed to engage small UAVs, that
uses a high-resolution telescope to direct a 2-10 kW beam with the diameter of a penny
out to a range of 5.4 nmi.
On the Apache, the laser could be used to destroy enemy communications or radio equipment.
On 14 July 2016 it was reported that the AH-64 had successfully completed testing of the
MBDA Brimstone anti-armor missile.
U.S. Apaches served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan from 2001.
U.S. AH-64Ds typically flew in Afghanistan and Iraq without the Longbow Radar in the
absence of armored threats.
On 21 December 2009, a pair of U.S. Apaches attacked a British-held base in a friendly
fire incident, killing one British soldier.
In 2006, Thomas Adams noted that Apaches often fought in small teams with little autonomy
to react to threats and opportunities, requiring lengthy dialogue with command structures in
an effort to centrally micromanage each unit.
AH-64D Apache flying over Baghdad, Iraq in 2007, on a reconnaissance mission
In 2003, the AH-64 participated in the invasion of Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
On 24 March 2003, 31 Apaches were damaged, and one shot down and captured, in an unsuccessful
attack on an Iraqi Republican Guard armored brigade near Karbala.
Iraqi tank crews had set up a "flak trap" among terrain and effectively employed their
guns.
Iraqi officials claimed a farmer with a Brno rifle shot down the Apache, but the farmer
denied involvement.
The helicopter came down intact and both the pilot and co-pilot were captured.
The AH-64D was destroyed via air strike the following day.
By the end of U.S. military operations in Iraq in December 2011, several Apache helicopters
had been shot down by enemy fire, and others lost in accidents.
In 2006, an Apache was downed by a Soviet-made Strela 2 in Iraq, despite the Apache being
typically able to avoid such missiles.
In 2007, four Apache helicopters were destroyed on the ground by insurgent mortar fire using
web-published geotagged photographs taken by soldiers.
Several AH-64s were lost to accidents in Afghanistan as of 2012.
Most Apaches that took heavy damage were able to continue their missions and return safely.