14 June 2017

News Story: Boeing’s eagle eyes scan Australia (Apache & ScanEagle)

AH-64 Apache (File Photo)
by Damian Kemp in Mesa

Boeing has begun to plan for the likely early retirement of the Australian Army’s Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter by considering such a requirement as a ‘prospect’. The company recently demonstrated its capabilities, including linking with UAVs.

In February this year the Australian Government in its Defence White Paper planned for the replacement of the troubled Tiger fleet from the mid-2020s.

The helicopter had a difficult birth and continues to struggle to achieve availability and datalink requirements and has not yet operated from the Royal Australian Navy’s new amphibious assault ships.

The possibility of a new requirement led Boeing to pull out almost all the stops at the Australian Air Show 2017, there was no public flight display, and demonstrate the AH-64E Apache to Australian personnel and to also demonstrate integration with a grounded Insitu ScanEagle UAV.

Read the full story at Shephard