MESA, Ariz. —Boeing’s [BA] lead official for Apache attack helicopters told reporters on Monday the company is “out to change [the Army’s] mind” on the service’s plan for the next multi-year contract to be the last such procurement deal for the aircraft.
Kathleen “KJ” Jolivette, Boeing’s vice president of attack helicopters, said the multi-year deal is likely to be awarded in late fall, with the contract expected to include a four-year base period covering a buy of 96 AH-64E Apaches and a one-year option period.
“We’re out to change their minds. Like I said, we’re always investing and looking forward. Of course we don’t want it to be the last multi-year,” Jolivette said during a media visit to the company’s Mesa, Arizona site where it builds Apaches. “There’s a lot of demand for Apache. I think the most important piece of it is everyone knows the Army wants it around until 2050, 2060.”
Doug Bush, the Army’s top acquisition official, said in April the service was “moving quickly” on the final multi-year contracts for UH-60 Black Hawk and Apache helicopters, as it begins to shift its priority to the Future Vertical Lift fleet (Defense Daily, April 4).
In late June, the Army then signed the expected final multi-year deal Black Hawk deal with Sikorsky [LMT], awarding the company a five-year deal worth $2.3 billion for delivery of 120 H-60M helicopters (Defense Daily, June 27).
With options, the Army said the 10th multi-year deal for Black Hawks could potentially be worth $4.4 billion and cover up to 255 helicopters
Ted Colbert, CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, noted the company is currently in negotiations with the Army on the next Apache multi-year deal and echoed Jolivette’s comments on the future outlook for the attack helicopter.
“I can’t predict the future with how we see the tranches playing out but I know that we’ll continue to invest in the platform, continue to modernize it, continue to leverage investments,” Colbert told reporters.
Colbert cited Poland’s announcement last week that the country plans to procure 96 Apaches, up from an original projected buy of around 32 helicopters, of how the “demand signal changes” and Boeing’s approach to meeting future initiatives for the platform.
Boeing beat out Bell’s [TXT] AH-1Z Viper offering to win Poland’s Kruk program to find a replacement for its Mi-24 helicopter fleet (Defense Daily, Sept. 8).
Jolivette said when factoring in Army multi-year contracts and ongoing and future Foreign Military Sale cases the Apache production line is set to continue running through at least 2029 or 2030.
Bush said at the time in April that the Army exceeded Congress’ expectation for associated potential savings with the multi-year deals for Apaches and Black Hawks, which helped secure support for the contracting efforts.
The FY ’22 NDAA included a provision supporting the potential final multi-year deals citing $234 million in potential savings for the Apache program as compared to awarding annual contracts, adding it “would facilitate industrial stability,” as well as $405.4 million in savings for the Black Hawk program over a five-year period (Defense Daily, Sept. 23, 2021).