Indian Army receives first AH-64E helicopters

A Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopter ordered by the Indian Army is unloaded from an Antonov An-124-100 strategic airlifter at Air Force Station Hindon on 22 July 2025. (ADG PI/Indian Army)

The Indian Army has taken delivery of its first batch of Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters on order, according to the service's Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADG PI) at the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Images published by the ADG PI show that Boeing delivered the first batch of three helicopters to Air Force Station Hindon, near New Delhi, in an An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft of the Ukraine-based Antonov Airlines.

The “arrival of the first batch of Apache helicopters” will allow the Indian Army to strengthen its capabilities, India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on 22 July. “These … helicopters will enhance the Army Aviation wing's operational effectiveness, especially in challenging terrains.”

The helicopters will be subsequently flown to Jodhpur in the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan where they will join 451 Army Aviation Squadron, which was formed in 2024 to operate the new helicopters. The unit is based at Nagtalao Army Aviation Base, north of Jodhpur.

The Indian Army ordered a total of six AH-64E helicopters in February 2020, during US President Donald Trump's visit to New Delhi. Janes previously reported that the first batch comprises three helicopters.

According to Boeing, the AH-64E Apache is equipped with an open systems architecture that can integrate “the latest communications, navigation, sensor, and weapon systems”. The AH-64E also possesses an improved Modernised Target Acquisition Designation System (TADS) that provides day, night, and all-weather target information, as well as night vision-navigation capability, the company added.