“Afghan Field Report: British WAH-64Ds” and “WAH-64 Combat-Certifies New Armament: Royal Marines” covered Britain’s use of its WAH-64D/ AH Mk.1 Apache Longbow helicopter gunships on the front lines in Afghanistan. British Apaches have put their more powerful Rolls Royce/ Turbomeca RTM322 engines to good use in Afghanistan’s unfavorable “hot and high” flying conditions, allowing them to use equipment that other countries have stripped out to save weight.

In October 2009, AgustaWestland signed the Apache Integrated Operational Support (IOS) through-life contract with the UK Ministry of Defence. The contract fits within their March 2005 Partnering and Business Transformation Agreement, and will result in a shift of British military personnel toward the front lines…

• The Apache IOS
• Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings

The Apache IOS

The Apache IOS contract commenced in October 2009, and will be fully operational from April 1/10. It’s a “through-life support” contract, which means it’s expected to continue until the fleet is taken out of service in about 22 years.

Like the Sea King (SKIOS) and EH101 support contracts negotiated under the firm’s Partnering and Business Transformation Agreement, Apache IOS is a performance-based logistics arrangement, whereby the firm has financial incentives to improve availability and throughput, whilst seeking continuous improvement to reduce through-life costs. The contract is expected to reduce through-life costs by more than GBP 50 million in the initial period, and more over the full life of the contract. At regular intervals there will be price and value for money reviews, in order to ensure that performance targets are being met.

In order to execute the Apache IOS contract, AgustaWestland has formed an industrial alliance with Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and the Lockheed Martin/ Northrop Grumman joint venture Longbow International. The alliance will deliver logistical, engineering, depth maintenance and technical support for the UK MoD’s fleet of 67 Apache AH Mk1s.

Services will include complete spares provisioning, and enhanced technical support services including aircraft safety management, mission avionics systems rig support, and training course material.

At Wattisham, AgustaWestland will continue to manage the Depth Support Unit and the associated workshops, ensuring that the throughput of the facility matches the requirements of the British Army. Wattisham was run by military technicians until mid-2006, but is now run by 180 AgustaWestland engineers who service each of the UK’s 67 Apache aircraft after each one has completed 600 flying hours.

At Middle Wallop, AgustaWestland will continue to be responsible for the provision of Apache aircraft on the flight line at the School of Army Aviation, delivering the required number of flight hours to match the Army’s training requirements.

Colonel David Turner, the Apache Force Commander, adds that:

“I’ve got more aircraft now available for training than I’ve ever had and that’s all because the military guys from here have gone forward. I can now do far more here at Wattisham than I’ve ever been able to do and give the pilots in the UK the training hours they need to prepare for operations.”

Contracts and Key Events

Oct 6/09: AgustaWestland and the UK Ministry of Defence sign a GBP 439 million (currently $695 million) Apache IOS contract for through-life support. Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies announces the award at Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk, where 3 and 4 Regiment Army Air Corps, who operate the helicopter in Afghanistan on a rotational basis, are based. Quentin Davies:

“I can say without any exaggeration at all that there’s not been a battle we’ve fought in Afghanistan in which Apache hasn’t played an absolutely decisive role and every day the Apache fleet are saving the lives of our infantry soldiers in Afghanistan and of course they are taking out an enormous number of the enemy.”

The UK MoD release added an operational dimension to the IOS contract:

“The contract, which is similar to recent ones awarded for the maintenance of Merlin, Sea King, and Chinook helicopters, means that, while industry maintains the aircraft at home, the British military’s Apache engineers are freed up to deploy to Afghanistan where they can keep the aircraft in the air, supporting operations almost around the clock…. AgustaWestland have security and know where the cash flow is coming from and what is required of them for the next few years, while for us it means an awful lot of the risks are taken off our shoulders. And as far as our operational training squadron is concerned it is really a complete availability arrangement. We don’t even bother to think about the machines, we just turn up and fly them, and AgustaWestland have got them all ready for us when we need them”

Colonel David Turner, the Apache Force Commander, explained the shift in more detail:

“In the front line we are doing servicing at more frequent periods. We do servicing at 50 hours and 100 hours. We don’t take it apart completely but we open the panels, we check the engines, gear box, rotor blades, we check all the systems. It all goes from daily flight servicing. Every aircraft is checked on a daily basis; you wouldn’t fly it until it had been checked by a technician, so there’s a huge burden of maintenance effort still required on the front line and I need the soldiers from here to move to that effort and that’s happening.

To allow AgustaWestland to take over the DSU and now to take over the provisioning of all spares and equipment allows us to focus again more tightly on the operation.”

See: UK MoD | British Army | AgustaWestland release.

Additional Readings

• DID – SKIOS for Sea Kings: Availability Contract Covers Through-Life Maintenance

• British Army – Apache

• Airforce Technology – AH-64A/D Apache Attack Helicopter, USA

• AgustaWestland – Apache AH Mk.1

• Boeing – AH-64 Apache

• Rolls Royce – RTM322

• Safran Group’s Turbomeca – RTM322 01/12

• Lockheed Martin – LONGBOW Fire Control Radar and LONGBOW HELLFIRE Missile

• Northrop Grumman – Longbow Fire Control Radar