A worrying surge in electrical power generator failures was reported over the past couple of years with the US Army’s fleet of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, which is leading to adverse flight conditions noted as “potentially hazardous”. These have been cited in downing pilots with breathing and visibility difficulties, as reported by the Pentagon.
“When the generator fails, the cockpit fills with smoke, which can cause serious breathing and visibility problems,” stated an Army’s Program Executive Office Aviation. However, these electric issues have not resulted in any crashes or caused enough concern to make the fleet grounded. “A long-term solution is under investigation,” according to the spokesman. Engineering efforts will begin once the program is funded.
As a result of the failures of the generators, Boeing, the Apache’s prime contractor, has opted to return to using the older Honeywell “-7” generators given that the improved “-11” model was now red-flagged for causing the above issues. He related that that is a temporary measure as the company seeks fresh alternatives. “Engineering effort will commence once the program is funded,” he reiterated.
Meantime, the Army has incorporated several interim measures to deal with generator failures on its helicopters, such as retrofitting the helicopter with a modification that shuts down the compromised generator whenever a fault is detected. Despite this, the US government continues to sell AH-64Es around the world, with one of the latest sales being to Poland for 96 of them.
Over 350 AH-64E Apaches have entered service since 2012, and the aircraft is still a core part of Army operations. As of March, the Army Acquisition Objective (AAO) for the Apache is 812 aircraft, a mix of remanufactured and new builds. The service is also seeking to integrate the ITEP offering from General Electric when available.
Although generator failure is supposedly a repeated problem of the Apache fleet, safety concerns are not limited to this one. The US Army has been increasingly pressured with four separate Apache crashes in two months. The most recent crash happened on March 27 base of Fort Carson, Colorado, in a regular training operation. Both pilots served only some light injuries.
This crash, along with three others between February and March, had led to immediate investigations and grounding of all aviation assets at Fort Carson. The leading of the investigations is from the Army Combat Readiness Center at Fort Novosel, Alabama.
The spate of incidents has deeply concerned the Army, which ordered a safety stand-down for all National Guard helicopter units. With the Apache legacy dating back to its first delivery in 1984, it becomes imperative to preserve the safety and operational effectiveness of this crucial asset of military operations around the globe.
The string of recent accidents had also attracted the attention of overseas Apache operators, including India, as around 22 AH-64Es are currently in use by the Indian Air Force, and now another six are to be inducted by the Indian Army. Defense experts at large believe that as the cockpits are pretty much standard across the entire Apache fleet, the problems being encountered by the US Army might well cast its shadow on other Apache users.
A five-year comprehensive safety review conducted in 2020 reveals that Apaches had been responsible for more than a quarter of the rotary-wing mishaps considered over the period examined here. From 2016 until now, these combat helicopters have been involved in 77 accidents entailing substantial damage and the loss of 12 lives. Human error was found to be the contributing factor in 87% of the most severe mishaps.
As the investigations into the recent crashes proceed, the pressure on the Army to identify critical reasons and put relevant measures into place that would prevent future Apache accidents and therefore ensure the safety and readiness of the fleet increases.