AH-64E Apache attack helicopters ‘on the cusp' of combat ineffectiveness, says US Army general

A US Army AH-64E lands during exercises in Germany during 2023. A prominent army general is questioning the helicopter's combat effectiveness based on the performance of attack helicopters in the Ukraine war. (US Army)

Lieutenant General Joseph Ryan, the US Army's deputy chief of staff for operations, plans, and training, said at a 3 June think tank event in Washington, DC, that the latest versions of the Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopter are not as effective at their assigned missions as they once were.

In May the army announced that it would transform much of its aviation component, including retiring all AH-64Ds, and ending the D-model to E-model conversion process; the service operates 158 D-models, of which 52 were to be remanufactured as E-models. The AH-64Es – the service operates 560 E-models – are to be retained.

“The AH-64D … is not a war-winning capability that we can fight with and win today,” Lt Gen Ryan said. “I would argue that the E-model [AH-64] Apache, in its current versions, the [version] 4 and the [version] 6, are also on the cusp of being capabilities where we don't necessarily see them contributing in the fight the way they have done in the past. We are continuing to modernise and upgrade our Apache fleet – but only our newest Apache fleet – to meet the demands of future warfare.”

Lt Gen Ryan said that both Russian and Ukrainian attack helicopters have demonstrated “extremely limited” effectiveness in the Ukraine war.

The AH-64D, which entered service in 1997, is not equipped with the latest weapons or capabilities. The succeeding AH-64E can fire longer-range missiles and control unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from the cockpit.