AH-64E Apache Guardian
The networked Apache — more power, composite blades and control of drones · First flight 2008 · In service 2013
The AH-64E began as the AH-64D Block III. The first test aircraft flew at Mesa, Arizona, on 27 June 2008, and the type was renamed AH-64E Guardian in 2012. Deliveries began in November 2011; the 1st Battalion, 229th Aviation Regiment became the first US Army unit to field it in February 2013, and initial operating capability was declared on 27 November 2013.
Changes over the D include T700-GE-701D engines with an upgraded face-gear transmission, composite rotor blades, better landing gear, full IFR capability and the MUMT-X datalink, which lets the crew receive video from and control UAVs such as the RQ-7 Shadow and MQ-1C Grey Eagle. The Longbow radar was updated to work over open water. It is credited with a top speed about 20 mph (32 km/h) higher than the D and three to three and a half hours on station.
More than 500 had been delivered by April 2020. Export customers include Taiwan (from 2013), Indonesia, Qatar, South Korea, India, Australia and Poland; the UK ordered 50 rebuilt from its AH1 fleet (first delivered in November 2020), and the Netherlands upgraded its D models to E standard from 2023.
