NO(^58) THE MAGAZINE 02 59
SCANDINAVIAN
AVIATION MAGAZINE
The future
The Apache has proven itself on many continents.
From the European mainland to the sandy desert
of Mali and from the Iraqi heat to the vast training
grounds in Texas.
Dutch politicians are aware of the quality of
the aircraft and the decent choice made by the
Dutch House of Representative in the spring of
- This was confirmed by a news release
from the US Department of Defense’s Security
Cooperation Agency (DSCA).
On February the 20th the DSCA confirmed “the
approval of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the
Netherlands of items and services to support the
remanufacture of AH64D Blok II Apache attack
helicopters to the AH-64E configuration”.The deal can be closed for an estimated price of
$ 1,191 billion with all twenty-eight helicopters
still operational, fifty-one engines and many
systems, receivers and sensors being upgraded.This deal is in line with the development of
the RNLAF to become a ‘Fifth Generation Air
Force’, in which the Apache seems to become
indispensable for the Dutch armed forces and
its allies, in the Netherlands and abroad. The
Dutch Defense White Paper of 2018 writes the
remanufacture of the Apache is planned from
2022 onwards. However, the deal has yet to
be closed.