New Apache attack helicopter makes its debut in the field

The British Army’s new Apache AH-64E Attack Helicopter has made its first outing into the field.

Exercise TALON GAURDIAN has seen 3 Regiment Army Air Corps take a 1,500km road trip over two weeks, establishing itself at three separate locations across the country to plan and execute attack missions and maintain the state-of-the-art helicopters.

3 Regt AAC’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Simon Wilsey said: “Exercise TALON GAURDIAN is a really significant step forward for the British Army’s AH-64E, which is the most advanced attack helicopter in the world. We’ve been working hard to learn how to fly and maintain the AH-64E; now we’re getting the aircraft out into the field, tackling the additional complexities of living, planning, maintaining and operating in an austere environment and developing how we fight with it.

“As befits a new aircraft with vastly improved capabilities, we’re not just going back to what we did before. We’re beginning to use all the new systems and capabilities, and looking at the lessons of current conflicts, adapting to ensure our relevance and survivability. It is all about the basic field craft in the air and on the ground. So, for how we operate on the ground, it’s dispersing and camouflaging our positions to prevent observation by drones and communicating by data and over long range; and aircrew must fly using natural cover and all the aircraft’s sensors to counter air defence systems and low-tech threats.

“We’ve learnt a lot and we’ll continue to learn as we look to exploit the full capabilities of this awesome aircraft.”

The exercise saw 3 Regt AAC preparing for its core role providing an aviation deep attack battlegroup, as part of 1st Avn Brigade Combat Team, to 3rd (UK) Division, the British

Army’s war fighting division. In this role, the AH-64E will be a key element of how the Army fights in the coming decades, as set out in the Future Soldier programme.

The training started with the unit deploying from its base at Wattisham Flying Station in Suffolk to the rugged

Ranges in Northumberland. Amid the area’s trademark fog, rain and wind, aircrew tested themselves on the air defence ranges of RAF Spadeadam and hunted for artillery and armoured vehicles.