The Army’s civilian leader told lawmakers last week the Apache attack helicopter program was “not at any risk” as the service moves out on its major aviation restructure, reiterating plans to continue upgrading the platform.
“We are committed to Apache. It’s going to stay in the fleet for a long time. I was just talking to the folks that build Apache and they felt, I think, pretty comfortable with where we are. We do plan on continually upgrading it. It’s not at any risk,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said during a House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing on April 10.
Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) pressed Wormuth on the Army’s outlook for the Boeing [BA]-built Apache, noting the program wasn’t explicitly mentioned when the service announced it was canceling development of the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) and shifting resources to fund other priorities
“The Apache helicopter is in my district. With the cancellation of the FARA [program], I have yet to hear what the Army’s plan is for funding modernization of Apache,” Carter said.
Along with ending the FARA program, the Army in early February also detailed plans to end production of the UH-60V Black Hawk digital cockpit upgrade, delay production of the GE Aerospace [GE] T901 ITEP engine, and move to retire Shadow and Raven drones, adding it would free up resources for investments in the continued development of the Bell [TXT]-built Future Long Range Assault Aircraft, a new multi-year contract for UH-60Ms to be awarded in fiscal year 2027, eventual full-rate production of the CH-47F Block II Chinook, and research and development into unmanned systems (Defense Daily, Feb. 8).
“We’re going to continue to modernize the Apache over time and there is money in the budget to do that,” Wormuth responded to Carter. “Really, what we’re looking at with Apache is how to have more open system architecture so that we can do upgrades over time more easily and more quickly than we have in the past.”
Wormuth added the Army is also “talking a little bit more time” to figure out integration of the GE T901 ITEP engine for both Apache and Black Hawk, with the service having delayed entering into production of the new engine to continue working on development efforts.
The Army signed the second and expected final multi-year contract for AH-64E Apache attack helicopters with Boeing last March, which will run through 2027 and could be worth up to $3.8 billion (Defense Daily, March 17 2023).
Boeing has previously told Defense Daily it “absolutely” believes there will be future procurement deals for Apache beyond the new multi-year award (Defense Daily, Oct. 11 2023).
“We are absolutely working with the U.S. Army on a post-Multi-Year II contracting mechanism. I won’t tell you what that is because we don’t know, but we are working with the U.S. Army on that. We have a lot of [foreign military sale] customers that are eager to purchase the Apache. So we have some acquisitions to process today. And right now, for Multi-Year II, we have very limited, what we call, slots on our assembly line to support any additional aircraft. So we know there’s going to be something subsequent,” Christina Upah, Boeing’s vice president of attack helicopter programs, said in an interview last October.
Boeing has been working on the latest Version 6.5 upgrade for the AH-64E Apache, noting in October it had completed a first flight for the newest version of the helicopter.
“The Version 6.5 is really building on the Version 6 [software] baseline and making additional improvements to the architecture so it’s an open systems interface. And really it’s that stepping stone to take us to the next generation with our future Modernized Apache,” Upah said at the time. “Building that open systems interface is really the stepping off point to take our software to the next level. One of things that we’ll be testing is how we can do more plug-and-play. So in the future, as we’re integrating new technologies and capabilities onto the platform, we’ll be poised and ready to do that much quicker than we have ever done before in the past.”
The Army has previously said its targeting FY ’26 to begin fielding the AH-64E Apache Version 6.5 “via retrofit.”
Mike Reese, Boeing’s senior manager of attack business development, also told Defense Daily in October the company was looking at the now-canceled FARA program to inform priorities for Modernized Apache, the next step beyond Version 6.5.
“We’re spending company funds looking at what we can do for our transmission to give pilots more power, to be able to carry more payload and to have more range and endurance and more speed as well. It’s not going to be [Future Vertical Lift]-like speed, but it’ll be an increase from the current speed of that aircraft,” Reese said at the time.
Upah has said Boeing is focused on expanding the aircraft’s “scout capabilities” with Modernized Apache, adding the company envisions the future platform having “more network capability, long-range precision fires as well as deep sensing.”