The Army is pursuing a multi-year deal with Boeing [BA] to procure between 240 and 450 AH-64E Echo variant Apache helicopters that could be worth between $5 billion and $10 billion depending on quantity, according to a service spokeswoman.
Army spokeswoman Sofia Bledsoe said Thursday in an email the procurement would also involve Apaches for potential Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Army Apache Program Manager Col. Jeff Hager said Wednesday at a Boeing event the multi-year deal would run from 2017 to 2021 and that the justification and approval (J&A) has been approved by Army acquisition executive Heidi Shyu. The Army did not confirm Shyu’s approval of the J&A by press time Thursday.
Hager said Boeing has delivered 93 Apaches to the Army since October 2011 and additional units to international customers since 2012. The service wants to procure a total of 690 aircraft, he added.
Hager also said the Army this year will start development of the Lot 6 aircraft of Apaches that will be marinized for use in water environments. Hager expects marinized Apaches to enter production in 2017, once a contract with Boeing is secured, and he anticipates follow-on test and evaluation in late 2017.
The Army assumes the Asia-Pacific rebalance will mean an increase in operations in the littorals, for which a marinized Apache will enhance its utility. Bledsoe said the Army has explored several marinizing options, including corrosion protection, aircraft and personnel safety and aircraft sink arrest and recovery. To date, she said, the principle enhancements are the inclusion of a maritime target set to the fire control radar, a marine mode to the UHF radio and an expanding tube assembly to enable safe pilot egress of they have to leave the aircraft while underwater.
“We are exploring other undefined upgrades to assist Apache operations in a maritime or embarked environment,” Bledsoe said.
Boeing is producing Lot 3 helicopters with Lot 4 set to begin production in 2015 and deliver in 2016. These aircraft would include Link 16 connectivity that was successfully demonstrated in a follow-on test and evaluation in August (Defense Daily, Oct. 16).