(Europa) British Army

[Jacks]

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UK’s Digital Apache

The British Army is currently in the process of integrating the Apache AH Mk1 (AH) into the Army Air Corps. The AH Mk1 is a heavily armed helicopter, capable of accommodating a combat load of 8 Hellfire missiles, 38 CRV 7 rockets, 1200 rounds of 30mm cannon shells, 1400 litres of fuel and 72 chaff and flares.

The AH programme has been hampered by substantial delays, cost over-runs in the region of £70 million, engineering problems and software failures with the aircraft’s flight simulator. Despite these serious and expensive setbacks, the AH Mk1 does signify a step towards the UK realisation of ‘Network Enhanced’ armed forces.

It was initially thought that the British Army intended to acquire 91 Apache A-model aircraft or an equivalent. However the Longbow equipped D-model was preferred as it possesses a powerful target acquisition radar and has a greater potential to be fully ‘network centric’ due to its modern digital systems. The proposed UK fleet numbers were reduced to 67 to make the procurement of the D-model stay with the allocated budget.

The Longbow millimetric wave radar is mounted on the aircraft’s main rotor mast and forms part of the Longbow fire and forget anti-armour system. The radar is capable of 360-degree operations to a range of 8 km and can detect up to 1023 targets, display 256 and offer 16 as priority engagements for engagement. In addition to Longbow the AH Mk1 also fields a comprehensive sensor package and combines Target Acquisition Designation Sights (TADS) Pilot Night Vision Sensor (PNVS) Direct Viewing Optics (DVO) Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) and Day-Time Television (DTV). When all these sensor are combined, the AH Mk1 becomes a heavily armed Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) platform.
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