Boeing has been awarded a USD 1.946 Bn (EUR 1.82 Bn) contract modification from the US Army covering the manufacture of 184 AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters, the company announced on 17 March 2023.
Under the award the US Army will receive 115 remanufactured Apaches, plus another 15 procured as options (also remanufactured), while the remaining 54 aircraft cover US Foreign Military Sales made to Australia and Egypt, according to the US Department of Defense’s contract announcement.
The US State Department approved a refurbishment package for 43 Egyptian AH-64Ds in May 2020, following an approval for Egypt to acquire 10 AH-64Es in November 2018, while an Australian purchase of 29 AH-64Es to replace its fleet of Airbus Tigers was approved by the US State Department in June 2021.
The US Army received its first AH-64E in 2011 and has a programme of record for 791 of the type, with the majority of these being remanufactured aircraft.
Under the first multi-year contract, signed in 2017, Boeing delivered 244 remanufactured Apaches to the US Army and 24 new-build aircraft to an international customer.
This USD 1.9 Bn award brings the total current funded value of the contract to USD 2.1 Bn and has the potential to increase to more than USD 3.8 Bn with future obligations, according to Boeing.
“We are enhancing the US Army’s attack fleet while supporting additional partner nations and welcoming our newest Apache customer, the Australian Army,” Christina Upah, vice president of Attack Helicopter Programs and senior Boeing Mesa site executive, was quoted as saying in a company press release.
Boeing announced on 2 March that AH-64s flying with the US Army had clocked up five million flight hours. The first production AH-64A was accepted into US Army service in January 1984.
Peter Felstead
