FIRST AH-64Ev6 APACHE GUARDIANS

30 JULY 2025

USA: The first of the Australian Army's new AH-64E Version 6 (AH-64Ev6) Apache Guardian aerial fire support helicopters are rolling off the Boeing production line in Arizona and into the paint shop.

Imagery of the first three Australian Army Aviation AH-64Ev6 Apache Guardians including the lead airframe Apache Guardian A64-601 emerging from the paint shop in Australian insignia at Boeing’s Mesa Arizona production facility was released by the Department of Defence.

The airframes in the imagery are the first of 29 being produced for Australian Army Aviation to replace the inservice EC665 Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter under Project Land 4503 due to the early planned retirement of the Tiger ARH due to its high cost of operation and progressive technical obsolescence.

Aussie Apache A64-601 was painted in standard US Army Helo Drab FS34031 similar to all recent Australian Army Aviation acquisitions of UH-60M Black Hawks and CH-47F Chinooks, potentially signalling the end of the Australian Army's distinctive and globally admired three colour aircraft camouflage scheme which was instituted in the 1970s and still flies albeit in French f*cked up form on the ARH Tiger.

Interestingly the Australian Army has opted to serial number the new AH-64Ev6 Apache's from A64-601 rather than the traditional -001 even though the A64 serial has never been assigned to an actual aircraft before by the RAAF or the Australian Army even though the serial was associated with the WW2 era Vultee Stinson V-74 Vigilant army cooperation light aircraft which was never acquired.

The Australian Army is acquiring 29 new build AH-64E Version 6 Apache Guardian helicopters under Project Land 4503 Phase 1 to replace the inservice fleet of 22 EC665 Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters flown by the Robertson Barracks Darwin based 1st Aviation Regiment from late this year early next year.

The first two Australian Army Aviation AH-64Ev6 Apache Guardians are scheduled for delivery to the Australian Army's operational 16th Aviation Brigade's expanding footprint at RAAF Townsville in Townsville Far North Queensland in the final quarter of this year .

Because of the focus on non Chinese made components, the Mozzie tactical sUAS is fully compliant with United States military certification requirements.

Tactical innovations emerging from the war in Ukraine have seen FPV drones dominate the Forward Edge of Battle Area (FEBA) and its immediate approaches effectively rendering traditional offensive fire and manoeuvre tactics obsolete with massive lethality against armoured and dismounted forces.

The initial two AH-64Ev6 Apache Guardians will be assigned to the 1st Aviation Regiment's (1Avn) forward detachment at RAAF Townsville as the unit progressively redeploys from its current operating facilities at Robertson Barracks in Darwin and conducts its Operational Conversion from the inservice fleet of EC665 Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters to the new AH-64Ev6 Apache Guardian.

Additional AH-64Ev6s will be delivered in early 2026, with the entire fleet operational in Townsville by 2028.

Australian Army Aviation is targeting the Initial Operating Capability declaration for its future AH-64Ev6 Apache Guardians in the final quarter of 2026, with certification requirements based on a fully operational and deployable 1st Aviation Regiment flight of four AH-64Ev6s, with an operational sustainment system and trained personnel at RAAF Townsville ready for tasking.

Australian Army Aviation has not disclosed which of 1st Aviation Regiment's two operational Tiger Squadrons, 161 Aviation Squadron or 162 Aviation Squadron, will be the lead unit in the AH-64Ev6 Introduction Into Service, but both squadrons are currently scheduled to re equip with the new helicopters

In theory at least, the Australian Army is already in the AH-64 Apache business, having acquired two former British Army WAH-64 Mark 1 airframes (acquired in March 2024) which are currently in the USA where they are being reconfigured as semi AH-64Ev6s and converted into non flying ground based procedural training systems for the Australian Army Aviation's Apache maintenance training program.

Both of 1st Aviation Regiment's two subordinate attack helicopter squadrons, 161 Aviation Squadron and 162 Aviation Squadron, will have completed their Operational Conversion to the AH-64Ev6 by early 2028 by which time all 1st Aviation Regiment activity will have ceased at the regiment's current operational location at Gaza Lines at Robertson Barracks in Darwin and transferred to RAAF Townsville.

The redeployment of 1st Aviation Regiment from Darwin to RAAF Townsville as units commence Operational Conversion to the new AH-64Ev6 is driven by both strategic and industrial concerns, concentrating all Boeing Defence Australia supported helicopters, C Squadrons 14 inservice CH-47F Chinooks and Army's future fleets of AH-64Ev6s, in one location, which will significantly reduce fleet sustainment costs by concentrating all activity in a single location at Townsville.

Twenty-four of the new Apaches will be flown by 1st Aviation Regiment's 161 and 162 Aviation Squadrons and the remaining five airframes will be assigned to a new Apache training element which will be collocated with the 1st Aviation Regiment's operational squadrons at RAAF Townsville with aerial fire support helicopter training at the Australian Army Aviation Training Centre at Oakey in southern Queensland progressively wound up as the Apache's replace the inservice Tiger ARH helos.

The Australian Army is acquiring 29 new build AH-64E Version 6 Apache Guardian helicopters to replace its 19 year old EC665 Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters under Project Land 4503 after a long and frustrating program to bring the Tiger ARH up to AAAvn's requirements and the failed attempts to allow its digital fusion with broader Army digital command and control systems.

Ironically, the Australian Government selected the EC665 Tiger over the previous model AH-64D Longbow Apache helicopter in the original selection of the type under Project Air 87 in 2001.

The Australian Army future AH-64Ev6 Apache Guardians are standard (top shelf) US Army specifications according to the sensor, mechanical and weapons systems revealed in the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency approval publication Transmittal No: 21-42 published in June 2021.

Under the approved deal, the Australian Army's new fleet of 29 AH-64E Version 6s will feature the very latest US Army specification integrated sensor suite.

Each helicopter will include the latest AN/ASQ-170 Modernised Target Acquisition and Designation Sight and the AN/AAR-11 Modernised Pilot Night Vision Sensor (MTADS/PNVS) which facilitates near instant target identification/classification and threat prioritisation of high numbers of separate targets and auto cueing of weapons directly to the crew.

The fleet will be supported by a very respectable 16 AN/APG-78 Longbow Fire Control Radars millimetre-wave radars, which should allow half of all operational helicopters to field the radar system with spares for training and maintenance - significantly better radios than the US Army employs on its Apaches in operational attack/reconnaissance battalions. The AN/APG-78 Longbow radars will come with Radar Electronic Units (REU).

Each Apache will have an integrated situational awareness/self defence suite composed of interfaced AN/APR-48B Modernized Radar Frequency Interferometers (MRFI) to detect and classify hostile and friendly radars, the advanced AAR-57 Common Missile Warning Systems (CMWS) partnered with the Improved Countermeasures Dispensing Systems (ICMDS), AN/APR-39 Radar Signal Detecting Sets, AN/AVR-2B Laser Detecting Sets, and AN/APX-123A Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) transponders. The advanced survivability suite will allow Army's future Apaches to detect, analyse and prioritise threats and automatically make tactical avoidance manoeuvres or deploy active or passive counter measures.

Avionics will include the advanced Embedded Global Positioning Systems with Inertial Navigation Systems plus Multi-Mode Receiver (EGI+MMR) supported by AN/APN-209 Radar Altimeters Common Core (RACC) for ultra accurate altitude readings, the Doppler ASN-157 Doppler Radar Velocity Sensor for airspeed readings, AN/ARN-149 (V)3 Automatic Direction Finders and the AN/ARN-153 Tactical Air Navigation Set (TACAN).

Primary air to ground communications will be via the latest AN/ARC-231A Very High Frequency/Ultra High Frequency (VHF/UHF) radios.

Each AH-64Ev6 will be equipped with the rotor mounted Manned-Unmanned Teaming-2 (MUMT-X) video receivers and partnered Manned-Unmanned Teaming-2 (MUMT-X) Air-Air-Ground kits which allow the Apache's crew to operate with or control advanced Unmanned Combat Aerial Systems (UCAV) and higher level assets like the RQ-21 Integrator Tactical Unmanned Aerial System being acquired under Land 129 Phase 3 which replaced the inservice RQ-7B Shadow 200 UAS.

The AH-64E Version 6 employs the new streamline Guardian composite airframe and is built with a higher level of corrosion resistance to allow deployment at sea to support the Royal Australian Navy's Amphibious Ready Group.

The Australian Army's future AH-64Ev6s will retain the Apache's famous and battle proven chin mounted 30x113mm M230E1 + M139 AWS Area Weapons System Automatic Gun which is slaved to the aircrew's helmets.

Defense Security Cooperation Agency Transmittal No: 21-42 also lists a comprehensive munitions shopping list with basic and Precision Guided Munitions for the Apaches.

At the expensive end, the acquisition clearance lists a request for 85 AGM-114R Hellfire II multi purpose air to ground missile systems and 29 M36E8 Hellfire II Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM) and the M299 four round Missile racks that support them, the AGM-114R is the next generation of the already in ADF service Hellfire II missile family.

The relatively modest AGM-114R Hellfire II missile request may be an indication that the Australian Army is not overly invested in the Hellfire II and may be exploring the future potential to arm its AH-64Ev6s with more capable weapons systems like the AGM-178 JAGM (Joint Air to Ground Missile) or even the Rafael Spike NLOS missile, both of which have been successfully trialled on the AH-64E but have not been formally certified on the platform by the US Army.

DSCA Transmittal 21-42 also lists an approval for an impressive 2000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System Guidance Sections (APKWS-GS) which together with 70mm Wrap Around Fin Aerial Rockets (WAFARS) make the AGR-20A Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System - a laser guided medium range low cost precision rocket system.

The DSCA approval lists unspecified numbers of 70mm (2.75 inch) Hydra 70 WAFARS and WAFAR components including High Explosive Warhead for airborne 2.75 rockets inert; MK66-4 2.75 inch rocket High Explosive warhead M151 fuze M423 motor; MK66-4 2.75 inch rocket warhead M274 motor; MK66-4 2.75 inch rocket motor; M151HE 2.75 inch warhead and the 19 tube M261 (LAU-61) Rocket Launchers that support them.

The Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter entered Australian Army service in 2004, but has never been deployed operationally and currently operates with a caveated Final Operation Capability certification and partial Full Material Release.