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Subject: New bows to the Longbow
DragonReborn    4/3/2008 6:28:44 PM
I was reading a wiki article about the Apache Longbow where it mentions that block III upgrades to American Apaches will include the ability to control UAVs. The benefit of the Longbow radar was that a whole group of Apaches could fire on targets based upon the target aquistions of just one Apache radar dur to their ability to network. So only one helicopter would have to reveal its radar from behind cover. I assume that the adition of UAV control means that Apaches can now (potentially) stay totally concealed and just use a screen of UAVs ahead of them to aquire targets which can then be destroyed from cover? As a Brit does anyone know if the British Westland WAH-64 Apache will have this ability?
 
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Yimmy       4/3/2008 6:31:40 PM
Good luck concealing an Apache
 
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ArtyEngineer    Yimmy   4/3/2008 6:48:30 PM
You would be surprised!!!  I was at a place called Ft Cambell in Kentucky (Actaully most of the base is in Tennesee but the base post office is in Kentucky so its known as Ft Cambell KY!!!!) which is home to a lot of US Army Aviation Assets.  Was out with a Marine unit and we became very convenient practise targets for the Apaches and Kiowa teams!!!  I hope they were practicing what NOT to shoot!!.  Seriously though I saw an Apache literally dissappear behind gently rolling terrain on a firing point only to pop up somewhere unexpected and because of the atmospheric conditions (specifically wind speed and direction you could not hear it even though it was no more than maybe 500 meters away!!!!)  I know for a fact that they practice to use atmospheric conditions in conjunction with terrain to mask the aircraft.
 
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Yimmy       4/3/2008 7:51:52 PM
The one's I've seen in Salisbury Plain were unmissable.
 
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DragonReborn       4/4/2008 10:29:04 AM
In the mountains and hills of Afghanistan it is fairly easy to hide an AH in the gullys and vallys, keeping a mountain ridge or some other piece of terrain between you and a known enemy position, especially for us Brits who have kept the Longbow radars on our Apaches (gives them better terrain following abilities) the Americans have taken theirs off to save fuel efficiency in the lower mountain air but ours have a  more powerful  Rolls-Royce RTM322 engine so can keep them on.

If we could have several small UAVs ahead of a flight of Apaches networked in to give the Apaches targets then the Apaches could easily hide in a gully or behind a ridge until all targets were locked!!

Anyone else familir with this ability?
 
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flamingknives       4/4/2008 12:32:42 PM
UK AH Mk1 (the WAH64) doesn't have UAV linkage capability, although there is that capability in the UK.

Yimmy, what about the helos that you didn't see over the Salisbury plain? Those ones were probably hiding well enough...
 
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