Warplanes: May 20, 2003

Archives

The experience of U.S. Army AH-64 Apache gunships has revived a debate that's been going on since the end of the Cold War. On one side you have the Cold Warriors who see the AH-64s flying into firing positions and then hovering as they get off shots at enemy armored vehicles. On the other side you have a lot of the AH-64 pilots, who see a whole new battlefield (and now have Afghanistan and Iraq experience to back them up.) The pilots want the AH-64s to keep moving on the battlefield and basically be the close support for the ground troops, as well as their overhead observers. This is what the AH-64s were successful at in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the other hand, several dozen AH-64s got shot up when they tried a Cold War era attack on a Republican Guard division. The pilots, being pilots, have a wish list of AH-64 improvements that they are pushing. This includes a more powerful engine, more armor and a better night vision system. The pilots have experience on their side, and some of the army aviation generals are leaning towards seeing things the pilots way.

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contribute. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   contribute   Close