New Delhi, 17 August: The country’s defence acquisition council (DAC) on Thursday gave the green light to a proposal to buy six Apache AH64E attack helicopters for the army from the United States. The Boeing-manufactured helicopters and associated equipment cleared by the council are expected to cost around Rs 4,168 crore, defence ministry sources said. Attack helicopters have been on the army’s wish list for several years, but the air force has objected to the plan. India placed orders worth $3.1 billion for 22 Boeing AH-64E Apache helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy-lift choppers in 2015. The six helicopters cleared by the DAC, headed by defence minister Arun Jaitley, will be bought from the US as a follow-on option to the IAF contract, the sources said.
Armed with fire-and-forget Hellfire missiles, the Apache can track up to 128 targets a minute and prioritise threats. The missiles equip the gunships with heavy anti-armour capabilities. The DAC also cleared gas turbines worth Rs 490 crore to power India’s latest frigates built in Russia.
