Boeing gets $3.4B Apache contract from U.S. Army and Saudi Arabia

Middle East, News, US March 20, 2017 , by IRIA No Comments

Boeing, U.S. Army sign $3.4 billion Contract for 268 AH-64E Apache Helicopters. 24 of those will go to Saudi Arabia

Boeing and the U.S. government recently signed a five-year, $3.4 billion contract through which the Army, and Saudi Arabia, will acquire the latest Apache attack helicopters.

This is the first multi-year agreement for the Apache “E” variant under which the US Army will receive 244 remanufactured Apaches while 24 new ones will go to Saudi Arabia.

The contract features work on “Apache attack helicopter multi-year lots 7-11, AH-64E full-rate production of remanufactured aircraft and new build aircraft, remanufacture and new build Longbow crew trainers, peculiar ground support equipment, initial spares, integrated logistics support, and engineering technical services,” according to a March 15 Defense Department statement.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the work will be performed at Boeing’s facility in Mesa, Ariz., and is expected to be complete by the end of June 2022.

The Army obligated $3.28 billion in funds from fiscal years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 foreign military sales accounts to pay for the purchase, according to DOD.

“This agreement is great news for our Army, our soldiers, the American taxpayers, our industry partners and numerous international partners,” said U.S. Army Col. Joseph Hoecherl, the Apache project manager.

“It is a direct result of the professional dedication and diligent efforts by government and industry teammates to provide the much-needed capabilities of the world’s best attack helicopter – the AH-64E Apache – at a fair and affordable price that results in year over year savings to the taxpayer. In the hands of our trained U.S. soldiers, the Apache’s technologies and resulting capabilities are essential to Army operations around the globe.”

The AH-64 Apache is a multirole combat helicopter used by the U.S. Army and various other armed forces around the world. The Army first received the platform in January 1984.

Recently, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met with Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed Bin Salman at the Pentagon.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said the two leaders discussed the Middle East security environment, including confronting Iran’s destabilizing regional activities, he added, and U.S.-Saudi Arabia military cooperation in defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and other transnational terrorist organizations.