[Exclusive] Army's Apache Helicopters Grounded for a Month... The Bigger Problem Lies Ahead

Boeing Recommends Grounding Apache Fleet Worldwide After Series of Crashes
Faulty Mission Processors Could Leave Helicopters Unable to Carry Out Missions Even After Inspections

An AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopter takes off and hovers during a large-scale aviation operations exercise at the Army Aviation Command in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Joint Press Corps

The Army's latest attack helicopter, the Apache (AH-64E), has been unable to fly for more than a month. The Army acquired 36 Apaches in 2016, but concerns are growing that a gap could emerge in readiness, as they are expected to remain unavailable for operations for the time being.

According to military officials on Nov. 10, U.S. aerospace manufacturer Boeing, which makes the Apache attack helicopter, notified the U.S. Army on Oct. 6 of its recommendation to ground the entire Apache fleet. There have been two Apache attack helicopter crashes this year alone, both attributed to faulty transmissions. In June, a U.S. military Apache attack helicopter crashed while patrolling the Strait of Hormuz near Iran and the coast of Oman. Then, in August, an AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed in a field at Fort Hood military base in Texas, killing both people on board.

The U.S. Army requested that countries operating Apache attack helicopters around the world ground them. The request applies to 622 U.S. military helicopters and 242 owned by other countries, including South Korea. Taiwan also decided to suspend flights starting Oct. 30, following a technical notification from the United States concerning the Apache attack helicopter. U.S. Boeing technicians are visiting South Korea this month to inspect the South Korean military's Apache attack helicopters, and observers expect they will be unable to fly for the time being.

Even after inspections are completed, problems remain. Apache attack helicopters are equipped with mission processors (MPs). The MP was discontinued nine years after the South Korean military acquired its Apache attack helicopters in 2016. Overseas maintenance typically takes nine months. This is one reason the Apache attack helicopter fleet has a low operational availability rate. The Army Aviation Operations Command has 30 defective MPs but has been unable to find a way to repair them. Although it receives two repaired MPs each month, the cycle of two more units breaking down continues. The U.S. military is upgrading and replacing its MPs, but the South Korean military's upgrade project has effectively fallen through after it was not selected for a reassessment of its project feasibility study.

The Army said, "We received a flight safety message from the U.S. side regarding the AH-64E transmission and have suspended flights since early October. Flights are scheduled to resume in stages depending on the inspection results." It added, "There are no issues with emergency standby or operational readiness." 

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.