LESSONS LEARNED DURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AH-64A APACHE ATTACK HELICOPTER

During the development of the AH–64A APACHE Attack Helicopter, several technical problems were encountered, as is typical in the development of any new helicopter. This paper will discuss the major difficulties encountered in the airframe, the weapons systems, and the avionics. The airframe challenges were in the areas of loads, dynamics, and controllability. The ordnance problems were in the areas of wear and accuracy. The avionics problems were in the area of crew interface. As each of the difficulties was encountered, various options were considered and the solution was selected, taking into consideration the tight time schedule between contract award and first flight, and between first flight and delivery to the customer. Other major considerations were structural integrity, performance, weight limitations and budget limitations. The successful resolution of the problems encountered has resulted in the development of the outstanding AH–64A Attack Helicopter, which is currently in production for the U.S. Army. A documentation of the technical difficulties encountered and solved in the APACHE program provides a review of "lessons learned," which should be useful in future helicopter developments.