Free Republic

With the Indian Air Force embarking on modernisation, the skies over different parts of the country will witness yet another high-profile test with evaluations of attack helicopters due to start this summer. Seeking to get off the mark, Boeing is fielding the AH-64D Apache helicopter for the trials, Dean Millsap, regional director, Asia Pacific International Business Development, told a group of visiting Indian journalists here. Mr. Millisap said an IAF team was due to arrive in the United States and thereafter dates for the trials in different weather conditions would be finalised. Boeing is among the international companies that responded...

Call it a case of defense-press diplomacy: An Iranian colonel this week spoke publicly about a "special weapon" that was tailor-made to destroy U.S. Apache attack helicopters. The government-run Iranian news agency also released images of the shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile. In the photo, the launcher is to the left, in green, and the grey missile is also to the left, with a white cap covering the seeker at the tip. The straight black piece sticking out is a simple aiming device, similar to those found on other shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. "The enemy should not assume that if it attacks Iran,...

In northern Iraq, Sunni Arab terrorists have changed their tactics recently, moving about in the open much more frequently. This has made them vulnerable to attack by helicopter gunships. As a result, in the last two weeks of March, U.S. AH-64 helicopter gunships made 25 attacks on these armed groups, killing at least 25 and wounding many more. When attacked, the terrorists will scatter, aborting any operations they were in the midst of. The enemy had earlier learned that, to move around, they had to do so without carrying weapons and in small groups. But this made carrying out attacks...

Taiwan Chooses Boeing Over Bell In US$1.5 Billion Helicopter Deal July 10, 2007: 06:47 AM EST TAIPEI (AP)--Taiwan's army wants to buy 30 Boeing Co. (BA) Apache attack helicopters from the United States, an official said Tuesday, in a deal that will almost certainly roil rival China. Col. Dai Kuang-chao said the military opted for the Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow over Bell's AH-1Z Cobra because it better suited the army's needs. "This fits our military requirements," Dai said. "The Cobra may be a bit newer but it is still not battle proven." The deal, worth US$1.5 billion, still needs the...

Turkey's helicopter gunship saga far from over Monday, April 2, 2007 Strangely, Italian-British AgustaWestland's victory in Turkish bid may lead to purchase of US choppers ÜMİT ENGİNSOY ANKARA/WASHINGTON- Turkish Daily News National Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül says Friday's selection of the Italian-British AgustaWestland as winner of Turkey's multibillion-dollar attack helicopter tender comes as an historic decision, putting an end to a 12-year uncertainty over the Army's key modernization program. But leading defense analysts and industry sources say that it is too early to reach this judgment, because U.S. manufacturers may eventually prove to be theunexpected but actual beneficiaries of the...

The al-Qaeda terror group has claimed responsibility for the shooting down of a US military helicopter in Iraq on Friday, the group said in a statement posted on the internet. The US military confirmed earlier Friday that two soldiers had been killed when a helicopter "went down" north of Bagdad.

One killed and a casualty American in the crash landing of a helicopter WASHINGTON - a pilot of American helicopter was killed and another wounded soldier Sunday in the crash landing of a AH-64 Apache little after his takeoff of the airport of Kandahar, in the south of Afghanistan, announced Monday morning the American army. An investigation was open. The US army excluded that the apparatus was touched by a shooting enemy and specified that an investigation was open to determine the causes of the accident. The helicopter left on mission when it was crushed on the ground, one...

AH-64 Apache and Predator drone gun camera footage in Tall Afar, Iraq(New video of them destroying insurgents)

Report says Taiwan is conducting talks to buy US choppers. NEW REQUIREMENTS: Taiwan is reportedly looking into upgrading its aging attack-helicopter fleet and has been talking to both Bell and Sikorsky. AFP , TAIPEIMonday, Aug 22, 2005,Page 3Taiwan is in talks with US companies to purchase dozens of attack and transport helicopters and upgrade the AH-1W Super Cobra attack fleet serving the army, Jane's Defence Weekly said. "Taiwan and Bell Helicopter-Textron have launched talks on co-manufacturing UH-1Y Huey light utility and AH-1Z King Cobra attack helicopters to fulfil Taipei's requirement for 35 and 30, respectively, of the aircraft," the London-based...

This is how it's done"

Apache pilot was 'loving husband' By Emily Baker Killeen Daily Herald Christopher Chabot Martin was a soldier at heart, said a close family friend. “That’s all the boy was,” said Christy Greenville, a surrogate sister-in-law. “He was our little Army man.” Martin, 31, was killed Monday evening when the AH-64D Apache Longbow he piloted crashed during a training exercise at Fort Hood. Martin, a member of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, was promoted posthumously to chief warrant officer 2. The helicopter’s other crew member was treated at Darnall Army Community Hospital and released Monday evening....

CAMP UDAIRI, Kuwait — When Sgt. 1st Class Richard Martinez and his crew get done with an Apache helicopter, it’s filled with a bunch of nasty ways to get the bad guy. Martinez, 35, is the noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the armaments shop of the 7th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, an Apache maintenance unit from Illesheim, Germany. They work side-by-side with the 11th Aviation Regiment’s two attack squadrons, the 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment and the 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment. For now, Martinez and his crew work out of a series of box-shaped portable offices near the south end of...

<p>Some Marine Corps aviators are saying the best performing choppers in Operation Anaconda were Marine Cobras, not the Army's front-line AH-64 Apaches.</p> <p>"I know they got a lot of press, but two days after we arrived, an AH-64 did not fly in that objective area again, and it became our show," said one Marine aviator. "We got credit for a lot of targets found and destroyed. We were able to find something new to shoot at every single time we went there and could still be killing targets if we had not come back to the boat."</p>