By JUNG SUNG-KI
SEOUL — South Korea selected Boeing’s new Apache helicopter as the winner of its $1.6 billion “AH-X” deal to buy 36 heavy attack helicopters.
The AH-64E Guardian, the latest Apache aircraft, beat Bell’s AH-1Z and the T-129 built by Turkish Aerospace Industries, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said April 17.
“All the three aircraft were assessed to have latest technologies, but the AH-64E was evaluated to have better performance than the other competitors,” DAPA spokesman Baek Yoon-hyung said in a press briefing.
Baek said the Guardian was given higher ratings in the evaluation of maximum takeoff, weapons load and target acquisition, although the aircraft was assessed to incur higher maintenance costs than the other candidates.
Read the full 2 page story at DefenseNews