Don’t Panic About Apaches: Army Not Junking Gunships
Will the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft "replace" some AH-64 Apache gunships? Sort of, technically -- but that's a misleading slice of a bigger story.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. on March 28, 2019 at 5:18 PM
AH-64 Apaches.
HUNTSVILLE: A stray remark to Congress by the Army Chief of Staff has prompted headlines that the proposed Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft would replace half of the Army’s AH-64 Apache gunships. That’s technically true, in a very narrow sense, because several hundred Apaches have been pressed into service as scouts — a job they weren’t built for — and the FARA is being designed specifically to take over the scouting mission in a major war with Russia. But that doesn’t mean the Army is getting rid of those Apaches altogether, and it doesn’t mean FARA will take on the much heavier, better-armored Apache’s primary role as a gunship.
The Army’s aviation modernization director, Brig. Gen. Wally Rugen, told reporters here this morning that the service is years from a decision on what to do with the Apaches in recon units once FARA enters service. But while the Army could theoretically just junk the gunships — which would be wasteful — it could also simply transfer them to the kind of attack units they were originally built for. In fact, it’s possible that the gunships could go back to the National Guard attack helicopter units that lost them after a bitter political struggle.
https://breakingdefense.com/2019/03/dont-panic-about-apaches-army-not-junking-gunships/
