Hughes/McDonnell Douglas/Boeing AH-64 Apache

The prototype of attack helicopters was the American AH-1 Cobra, which soon after its creation saw widespread use in the Vietnam War. At that time, it was primarily an anti-personnel type, because there were not many clashes with enemy armored vehicles on the battlefield. However, Vietnam was not a typical threat for the USA, but rather the massive tank columns of the Warsaw Pact countries. That is why other versions of the Cobra were created, equipped with TOW anti-tank missiles, designed specifically to destroy enemy armored vehicles. However, despite all its qualities and defining principles for attack helicopters, the AH-1 type always suffered from a certain lack of performance, little space for installing special systems, and last but not least, a lower level of safety. Therefore, the AAFSS (Advanced Aerial Fire Support System) competition was established in the USA, which was supposed to respond to these findings and bring the US Army a completely new generation of combat aircraft with sophisticated weapon systems and flight parameters that would allow the aircraft to be protected not only by armor and protective systems, but also by extremely fast flight tactics. However, the AAFSS project proved to be too ambitious at the time, so the alternative AAH (Advanced Attack Helicopter) competition was chosen. Although it did not require many of the extreme speed or volume of special equipment to be carried, it still represents a less demanding task in terms of safety and durability. The YAH-64 type won, fifty years after its takeoff in 2025. This helicopter, called the Apache in serial production, then became a truly iconic type. The deployment of more than two hundred machines during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq helped to increase the reputation of the type and launch modernization programs, the latest result of which is the current version of the AH-64E Apache Guardian. Although it still does not reach the performance parameters required in the AAFSS tender, it brings incomparably higher combat capabilities, and especially high robustness and durability. The extremely demanding task led to the creation of a type that, even in today's most modern versions, continues to rely on a half-decade-old concept that has nothing to change. Today, the AH-64 is clearly the most advanced attack helicopter in the world, which has not surpassed and will not surpass any European, Russian or Chinese type in terms of capabilities in the foreseeable future. That is why the AH-64 continues to be the core of the US Army's offensive capabilities and these helicopters are operated or will be operated by a total of eighteen countries around the world. And in many of them, the helicopters have been serving reliably for three decades and are being replaced by further modernizations or completely new AH-64s. And although the US Army is planning to transition its transport aircraft to the high-speed MV-75 platform, derived from the prototypes of the V-280 Valor convertibles, the combat section will continue to rely on the modernized AH-64. It will be decided in the next decade whether to replace the AH-64 with a new type or to undergo further deep modernization, for which the manufacturer is also preparing concepts for high-speed derivatives with a pusher propeller in the ring. Fleet size,Extremely demanding deployment in many conflicts and continuous modernization have made the AH-64 an extremely effective combat type that we will see in the skies for at least 75 years after the first YAH-64 took off.

The publication has A4 format, full-color on high-quality coated paper, V2 binding, 52 pages, a number of photos, color side views.