Future of flight: Apache helicopter's evolving role amidst global shifts
The AH-64 Apache helicopter will soon mark its 50th anniversary of flight. Despite its age, it is still under development, and the Pentagon plans to keep it in service at least until 2060. This is promising news for Poland, which will eventually be able to upgrade its helicopters to the latest standard. What future awaits the Apache?
Do attack helicopters still make sense? The ongoing conflict in Ukraine raises questions about the future of this class of equipment, yet different countries draw extremely different conclusions from the same data.
Citing the fighting in Ukraine, South Korea has decided to review its AH-64 helicopter purchase program. After delivering the first batch, consisting of 36 units, further deliveries are now in question.
Japan is taking more drastic measures. Although it operates a substantial fleet of attack helicopters, it plans to completely replace them with various types of drones.
China presents a completely different assessment of the situation. Based on the conflict in Ukraine, China concluded that the attack helicopter is indispensable, sparing no expense in developing its own designs. Similarly, Israel operates 48 Apache helicopters in AH-64A and AH-64D versions. This country intends to double its fleet of these machines nearly.
From Cold War to COIN operations
The Apache was designed according to Cold War assumptions as part of a powerful war machine participating in a full-scale conflict against a technologically advanced opponent. The concept of AirLand Battle, which NATO was to conduct with the Warsaw Pact, assumed that the Apache would operate in an ecosystem created by the "big five." This included the M1 Abrams tank, M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, Patriot anti-aircraft system, Black Hawk transport helicopter, and attack helicopter.
Meanwhile, several decades of service for this machine include battles conducted against a significantly weaker opponent, as in Panama or during Operation Desert Storm, or COIN (counterinsurgency) operations. The Russian attack on Ukraine and growing pressure from China mean that, as noted by Thomas Newdick from The War Zone, in the case of the Apache, the pendulum swings in the other direction.
In planning the development of its helicopter, Boeing returns to its roots—aiming for the Apache to once again dominate in extremely hostile, weapon-saturated enemy environments, such as those in Europe, for example.
Advanced Apache, or AH-64 after modernization
The first modern concept of Apache modernization was presented in 2022. Boeing then proposed upgrades to the powerplant, the use of modular construction, advanced avionics that reduce crew information overload, modernization of sensors and data exchange links, reducing operating costs, and the use of new long-range weapons and airborne-launched drones, known as ALE (Air-Launched Effect).
Updated assumptions were presented in October 2024, and earlier ideas were refined and developed. The Apache is in for a true revolution, including a new fuselage with an extended lifespan, which will reduce operational costs.
Improved aerodynamics and the new powerplant are expected to allow the helicopter to achieve even greater speeds without altering the rotor design. Previous concepts included, among others, using an articulated tail rotor that would act as a pusher propeller, like in the S-97 Raider helicopter (a similar concept was presented by Boeing for the AH-64F variant as early as 2014).
The increase in speed is significant, partly due to the necessity to cooperate with the new Bell V-280 Valor helicopters from the FLRAA program, which will eventually replace the currently operated Black Hawks. The new Apache is also expected to offer a greater range, which is particularly important during operations in the Pacific.
The modernized AH-64 is also supposed to carry more weapons. This will be made possible by extended wings, under which there will be space for six weapon stations rather than the current four.
Apache without FARA helicopter support
The helicopter's avionics will undergo radical changes, which—following the solutions applied in the F-35—will limit the amount of information reaching the crew, presenting only the most relevant information at a given moment. A new helmet with a display will help, allowing for augmented reality (computer-generated images and data overlaid on the real image).
Boeing is also considering forgoing the characteristic radar dome, which has been placed above the main rotor axis since version D of the Apache. The radar will be moved to the fuselage, and drones will take over the role of sensors, allowing safe observation.
The development of reconnaissance capabilities will be critically important for the Apache due to the cancellation of the FARA program, which was supposed to support attack helicopters with new and lighter attack reconnaissance machines.
A long-lived design
Will the proposed changes be implemented, and when? At the current stage, Boeing does not specify whether the new Apache will be created as an upgrade of the existing Echo variant (AH-64E Guardian, currently in version 6.5) or as a new variant of the machine, unofficially referred to as "Future Apache" or "Advanced Apache."
The manufacturer's plans assume the beginning of modernization between 2032 and 2035, and according to Pentagon assumptions, the modernized helicopter would serve until 2060, when the Apache will be a nearly 90-year-old design.
