AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter

Longbow

"Now if there's one thing you can be sure of, it's that nothing is more powerful than a young boy's wish. Except an Apache helicopter. An Apache helicopter has machine guns AND missiles. It is an unbelievably impressive complement of weaponry, an absolute death machine."

– Sir Patrick Stewart from the film Ted.

You know it, you love it. Whether your a gamer, ever seen a few modern war films or just a military buff you should already know what it is. It's the fucking Apache helicopter in service of American (Boeing), British (AgustaWestland) and Israel Armed armed forces. Though Israel adopted them in 1990 and the Brits in 2004. It is currently fielded by at least seventeen nations. Obviously no Apache for anyone except America in Team Yankee. Nor anyone else who bought them long after 1986 for that matter. Unless Gale Force Nine wants to go full crazy for their alternate history game or wants some extra cash.

In Team Yankee

Stats

As helicopters go, the Apache is a frightening beast. Along with Thermal Imaging, it has a 'take-all-comers' loadout of:

• Hellfire ATGMS and their 25 AT that will make short work of any tank it can get its sights on while it hovers well out of the range of AA.
• for infantry or soft vehicles (or if another helo tries to get rowdy), there's your M230 with ROF 6 AP 8 if you hover. I pity the non-armored fool that thing is pointed at...
• In case of artillery parking spot, once per game you can drop an AT4 Salvo onto their top armor of mostly zero. Not a sure kill, but it certainly will hurt a lot.

Like all NATO helo's it has the Hunter Killer special rule: use terrain as concealment and unless you fire, you're concealed and only being hit on a roll of 6+.

As is mostly the case with such units, the downside is cost: two Apaches will hurt you for 9, the full platoon of four for 18. They're expensive, but just like the Cobra, in the right conditions they'll murder the hell out of any Soviet that has the misfortune of being in front of them.

IRL

*insert your favorite early to mid 90s metal song here*

The Boeing AH-64 Apache strangely enough, shares its origins with the A-10 Warthog. Because USAF flyboys like to play fast and loose with the CAS mission and believe every problem on the ground can be solved with strategic bombing. In the 1970s, Lockheed's compound helicopter the AH-56 Cheyenne made chair force generals shit their collective panties. As it would make them irrelevant and look bigger idiots than they already were.(see Century Series fighters, F-111 and lack of a gun on the F-4) This forced them to stop thumbing their noses at the Fighter Mafia's CAS proposal. Having no choice but to adopt Warthog in order to force the Army to can the AH-56.

The Army got what they wanted and than issued an RFP for a conventional Attack Helicopter. In 1975 Boeing's YAH-64 won the contract over Bell's YAH-63. The first combat mission was George HW Bush's illegal invasion of Panama. While the real test of the Apache's effectiveness came during the Gulf War. Out of 277, only one AH-64 was shot down during Desert Storm via a close range RPG. The only real issues the army experienced were logistics and workload. During operation Allied Force in 1999 other problems also cropped up. Since post 2000 variants don't have those issues. It was obviously due to the inferior tools, technology and training of the day. The Apache biggest successes were during the Afghan and Iraq Wars. Many of the choppers that were shot down were eventually restored to working order.

The typical armament of the AH-64 is the M230 30mm Chaingun. A huge pain in the ass to reload. It can mount Hydra 70, CRV7 or APKWS rockets. Missile options consist of AGM-114 Hellfire, AIM-92 Stingers(obviously the A2A version of FIM-92) or Spike Missiles. Which is something the US Army adopted as an interim solution. Obviously because of America's Military Industrial Complex incompetence. The AH-64D Longbow variant has additional hardpoints for A2A Stingers. The most significant upgrade is the AH-64E Guardian. Allowing the gunner to control RQ-7 Shadow or MQ-1C Grey Eagle drones for recon or additional firepower.

Proposed upgrades for the Apache are a laser weapon system(likely as an upgrade from the M230 because again reloading it sucks ass) and replacing the tail fan with a pusher propeller. The latter which will increase its speed to 185 knots and range to 460 NMI. From 158 knots and 257 NMI respectively. If the AH-64E Block 2 Compound were adopted it would be the ultimate irony. As the AH-56 Cheyenne the USAF whined about was one of the earliest compound helicopters. It would be Army metaphorically poking the flyboys in the eye with one hand while flipping the bird in the other.

The Apache will mostly likely serve along side and eventually be replaced with the Sikorsky–Boeing SB1-Defiant by the US Army in the 2030s. Another Compound Helicopter like the Cheyenne. The Defiant is the contract winner of the Future Vertical Lift program alongside the Bell V-280 Valor. A tiltrotor aircraft more advanced than the V-22 Osprey.