Supply cannot meet demand, Boeing still wants to upgrade Apache attack helicopters

Customers are still lining up to buy the Apache AH-64, Boeing’s flagship attack helicopter, but the company is aiming for a more powerful version to continue attracting customers from the 2060s onwards.

Boeing is said to be focusing on designing the next-generation Apache AH-64F attack helicopter to find alternative ways to enhance the aircraft's capabilities.

The more advanced Apache design will revolve around weight reduction and composite fuselage design so the military can operate the helicopter between 2060 and 2070, according to Terry Jamison, director of attack helicopter programs at Boeing.

The Apache AH-64E attack helicopter is the latest version that is currently very popular. Photo: Takom Milwatch

“We are ready to go either way” if the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) is cut or continued, he told Breaking Defense at the MSPO trade fair in Kielce, Poland. The US military has previously announced cuts to the ITPE program.

The F version will focus on "reducing aircraft weight to bring more payload and capabilities to the production AH-64E Apache Guardian helicopter. ITEP will give America's top attack helicopter more power thanks to more advanced engines.

ITEP’s top priority is to provide a 50 percent increase in horsepower and a 25 percent improvement in fuel efficiency, a replacement engine for both the Apache utility helicopter and the UH-60 Black Hawk, based on General Electric’s T901 engine. However, the troubled program has been plagued by disruptions, including delays, before the U.S. Army finally decided to cancel it.

This is not the first time Boeing has revealed plans for the F-type aircraft, as the US Army rejected an earlier concept in 2016, which was then seen as a bridge solution before developing a future vertical lift (FVL) aircraft.

Boeing is now targeting GE's T901 engine to increase the power of the new generation Apache by 50%. Photo: General Electric

According to Jamison, the new move to revive the next-generation helicopter design is different from the previous iteration because it is not focused on high speed but is based on a series of "joint working sessions" with the US Army to determine "requirements" held over the past two years.

At the operational level, the concept of Apache helicopters attacking targets with air-launched effects for future missions, at least in theory, makes high -speed helicopter flight less of a priority.

"I don't know yet if high speed is a customer requirement," Jamison said.

The waiting list for the AH-64 extends until 2060.

In the meantime, Boeing continues to fulfill a multi-year Apache order under a US Army contract, with a ceiling of $3.8 billion, originally signed in 2023.

Production of the MY2 will end in the summer of 2028, after which Poland will be the next country to receive helicopters produced on Boeing's line in Mesa, Arizona, until 2031.

In 2022, under the KRUK attack helicopter program, Warsaw announced the purchase of 96 Apaches, the largest export order for this type of aircraft.

Jamison noted that new or additional orders for the AH-64 depend on future decisions from Canada, India, Indonesia and Romania, which could see work secured until the 2060s.

This means that whether or not it is improved or converted to a new engine, Boeing still cannot take care of customers for this famous attack helicopter.