Israeli AH-64D
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An Israeli newspaper report points to that country’s continuing debate about whether or not new rotor aircraft platforms such as the AH-64 Apache Longbow – of which Israeli just bought 18 – are worth the cost. Their immediate security threats are widely considered to be terrorism-related these days, rather than the historic threat of Syrian tank columns. Given their cost, are the really necessary? The report says that the Israeli debate mirrors the U.S. debate that led to the shelving of Boeing and Sikorsky’s RAH-66 Comanche program. A cost of $600 million recently bought Israel the 18 Longbows, plus 9 new Apaches and newly-scheduled upgrades for previously purchased Apaches.

Israeli Longbow purchase opponents – many who would like to see the money put into land forces and ground security purchases – point to the expensive mission in Karbala, Iraq during the campaign that overthrew Saddam Hussein, where small arms managed to seriously hurt 28 of 30 Apaches as they hovered to acquire targets. It was after that mission that Iraqi propaganda claimed an elderly farmer downed an Apache with an old rifle, a claim that turned out to be untrue but remains widely believed today.

The Apaches’ and Longbows’ highly sophisticated radars can quickly pick up tanks and other dangerous targets, but aren’t designed to distinguish civilians from combatants or to hover close over the deck in highly populated areas. Among aviators, much of the Karbala damage has been blamed on intelligence that failed to indicate the terrain south of Baghdad was so heavily populated.

Apache and Longbow supporters have also used the Karbala incident to boost their case, pointing out just how much lead the craft were able to absorb while still remaining in the air.