Sale of Apaches to Australia gets US agency approval

摘要

US STATE Department approval has been granted for a proposed Foreign Military Sale of 29 Boeing AH-64E Apache helicopters to the Government of Australia at an estimated cost of US$3.5 billion. The Australian Defence Minister, Linda Reynolds, had made an announcement back on January 15, 2021, that the AH-64E had been selected to replace the fleet of 22 Tiger ARHs. She said then that first deliveries were anticipated in 2025. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced approval on June 3 and notified Congress of the planned deal on the same day. Australia has also requested 64 T700-GE 701D engines (58 installed/six spares), 29 AN/ ASQ-170 modernised target acquisition and designation sight/AN/AAR-11 modernised pilot night vision sensors (M-TADS/PNVS), 16 AN/APG-78 fire control radars (FCR) with radar electronic units, 29 AN/APR-48B modernised radar frequency interferometers (MRFI), 70 embedded global positioning systems with inertial navigation systems plus multi-mode receiver (EGI+MMR) (58 installed/12 spares), 35 AAR-57 common missile warning systems (CMWS; 29 instatled/six spares) and 70 AN/ARC-231A very high frequency/ultra high frequency (VHF/UHF) radios (58 installed/12 spares).