MESA, Ariz., May 15, 1998 -- The Boeing Company today rolled out the first AH-64D Apache multi-mission combat helicopter for the Royal Netherlands Air Force in a ceremony at the company's Mesa, Ariz., production center.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force is the first international customer to take delivery of an AH-64D Apache.
The ceremony was attended by key government and military officials from The Netherlands and the United States. Keynote speaker was Jon C. Gmelich Meijling, the State Secretary of Defense for The Netherlands.
"Thanks are due today to the hundreds of talented men and women who work together on a day-to-day basis - in Mesa and around the world - to build the Netherlands' Apache," said Mike Sears, Boeing president of McDonnell Aircraft and Missile Systems. "This global team of people, with a mastery of technology and the ability to work together, has produced the finest multi-mission helicopter in the world."
In all, Boeing will produce 30 new AH-64Ds for the Royal Netherlands Air Force over the next several years. Later this year, the United Kingdom will become the second international defense force to accept the next-generation Apache. Boeing will build 67 new WAH-64s for Great Britain as a teammate to GKN Westland Helicopters Ltd. The first WAH-64 entered final production late last month.
Boeing also is building 232 AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters for the U.S. Army over the next five years, and several other international defense forces have expressed interest in the AH-64D.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force will assign its first 15 AH-64Ds to its 302 Squadron, which will be formed at Gilze-Rijen Airbase in The Netherlands. The squadron will be operational around the turn of the century.
While waiting for its AH-64Ds, Royal Netherlands Air Force pilots have been flying 12 AH-64A Apaches leased from the U.S. Army.
The AH-64A Apaches are flown by members of the 301 Squadron of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, which completed comprehensive U.S. Army training in 1996 at Fort Hood, Texas, and became operational in September 1997. The 301 Squadron, which will become the second of two AH-64D Apache squadrons for the Royal Netherlands Air Force, will continue to fly AH-64As during the transition. The unit will become fully operational in 2003.
The AH-64D Apache is the next-generation version of the combat-proven AH-64A Apache, which is in service by defense forces around the world.
The advanced, multi-mission AH-64D features fully integrated avionics and weapons plus a state-of-the-art modem that transmits real-time, secure digitized battlefield information to a wide range of air and ground forces. The AH-64D incorporates a series of enhancements that make it more survivable in combat, and easily deployable and maintainable in the field.
Its ability to communicate digitally with other aircraft and ground forces, and to share that information almost instantly, gives the AH-64D a significant advantage over current combat helicopters and will enable it to dominate the 21st century battlefield.
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