These copters are armed to attack enemy troops and tanks on the ground and also enemy bunkers in unreachable places in the mountains

The Indian Army’s tranche of the last three Apache AH-64E attack helicopters was delivered by US aerospace giant Boeing. A cargo plane carrying the copters landed at the Indian Air Force base in Hindon, about 20 km east of the national capital. Sources in the Army confirmed the delivery and added that affixing of rotors on the copters would be done at Hindon. A few sorties would be flown for a final check by the Boeing team before the copters are sent to join the existing fleet of three Apache copters at the Army base in Jodhpur.

These copters are armed to attack enemy troops and tanks on the ground and also enemy bunkers in unreachable places in the mountains. The Apache is a heavily-armed, twin-engine ground attack helicopter that can carry a combination of air-to-ground missiles, rockets, and a chin-mounted machine gun to engage tanks, vehicles, troop concentrations, communications, and logistics centres, etc. They can also fire short-range air-to-air missiles like the Stinger.

Attack helicopters are conventionally integrated with mechanised formations of the Army. The copters will be part of the Army Aviation Corps, which has a fleet of about 350 copters, including attack copters made by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Soviet-origin Mi-25/Mi35s. It also flies other copters for logistics and administrative duties.

The first batch of three Apache attack helicopters arrived in India in August, after a delay in deliveries. The Indian Army had signed a Rs 5,691 crore deal with the US in 2020 for procuring six Apache attack helicopters, with delivery initially expected in mid-2024. The delay in sending the copters was flagged by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh over a telephone call with his US counterpart Pete Hegseth in July.

Meanwhile, the delivery of the last three copters was delayed by more than a month. On November 1, a specialised cargo aircraft, the Antonov AN-124, was on its way from Arizona, US, to India, carrying the three Apache helicopters. The plane landed in England for refuelling; however, its onward route to India included overflight over Türkiye. Permission was not given for a week, so the Antonov plane had to fly back to the US with the three helicopters.