The Indian Army is all set to induct its six Apache attack helicopters at a military station in Jodhpur near the Pakistan border in the western desert.
"The first of the choppers is expected to start arriving from the US in February-March timeframe at the Hindan air base as scheduled in the contract. The choppers would then be deployed at a military station in Jodhpur for operations," military officials told ANI.
The Indian Air Force already has a fleet of 22 Apache helicopters deployed at both western and northern borders and the Army inductions would take the joint inventory to 28. "We have already trained more than 50 of our pilots and technicians at the American facilities as per the contract with the Americans. We would be able to operationalise the fleet in a very short time," they said.
The American attack helicopters were deployed in the eastern Ladakh sector soon after the Chinese aggression started in 2020 and have been operating from forward bases there.
The original equipment manufacturer Boeing announced in August last year that it had started the production of Apache Helicopters for the Indian Army at its state-of-art facility in the US (Mesa, Arizona).
The production process builds upon an ongoing collaboration with Tata Boeing Aerospace Limited (TBAL), which plays a pivotal role in the manufacturing of AH-64E fuselages at its cutting-edge facility in Hyderabad, India, it had stated. The AH-64's state-of-the-art technology and battle-tested performance will elevate the Indian Army's operational effectiveness and amplify its defensive capabilities".
(With inputs from ANI)
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