India receives the last batch of five AH-64 Apache helicopters.

The Indian Air Force command received the last batch of five AH-64E (I) Apache Guardian attack helicopters, which were ordered by Boeing in September 2015.

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An AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter from 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, based at Forward Operating Base Speicher, Iraq. (Picture source: US Army)

Last year, the Indian Air Force acquired 17 of the 22 ordered AH-64E (I) Apache helicopters. The remaining five were planned to be delivered to India by the end of March 2020, but the supply of helicopters was delayed due to restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the record, the Indian government signed a $2.2 billion contract with the U.S. government and Boeing for 22 AH-64Es and 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters for the IAF in September 2015. The first four Chinook heavy-lift helicopters were inducted into IAF service this March.

The helicopter has the capability to carry out precision attacks at standoff ranges and operate in hostile airspace with threats from the ground. The ability of these helicopters, to transmit and receive the battlefield picture, to and from the weapon systems through data networking makes it a lethal acquisition. These attack helicopters will provide a significant edge in any future joint operations in support of land forces.

The Boeing AH-64 Apache is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vision systems. It is armed with a 30 mm (1.18 in) M230 chain gun carried between the main landing gear, under the aircraft's forward fuselage, and four hardpoints mounted on stub-wing pylons for carrying armament and stores, typically a mixture of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and Hydra 70 rocket pods. The AH-64 has significant systems redundancy to improve combat survivability.