Being the chopper's weak point its thin armour, in 1975 the AH-64A Apache flown for the first time, intended to be the toughest chopper in the market. It was designed pure and simply to destroy russians tanks, and capable to take some damage and be abated with excellent survival chances for the crew. Up to 12 mm ammo impacts take the crew's cockpits, and up to 23 mm the hull. Its superb attack capability relies in a nose-mounted TADS/PNVS (Target Adquisition & Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor). This sensor provides the pilot with real.time Thermal image of hte land which lies ahead. That means no enemy vehicle is safe, unless it has some device to cover its thermal signature. That systems in the epoch we are talking about were very few and little extended. The russian warfare way does not include sofisticated and complex system, they trust in simplicity and numbers to build an army. With the Hellfire laser guided missiles, if the target is correctly acquired, the first round impact rate is above 90%. This means the Apache was the most effective anti-tank weapon at that time.

Untill 1997, when the Mesa factory started to build AH 64Ds Apache Longbows, Boeing had make 937 Apaches for USA and 5 international costumers: 821 for the US Army and 116 to Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Greece and the United Arab Emirates since 1984.

Tech Data:

Powerplant: two 1.265 kw GE T700-GE-701 TurboShafts Dimensions: Length 17.65 m; Heigth 4.30 m; Main rotor diameter: 14.65 m

Weights: MTOW 9525 Kg; Average Mis. Load 6552 kg.

Performance: 365 km/h; Max Climb Rate: 762 m/min. Service ceiling; 6400 m; Flight time: depends on auxiliary fuel tanks .

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