Chicago Tribune January 29, 2003
Attack copter redeemed in Afghan fight;
Apaches appear to overcome woes
By Douglas Holt and Stephen J. Hedges, Tribune staff reporters.
Four years ago, the Army's $22 million Apache attack helicopter quickly was becoming an expensive embarrassment.
The White House and Army had dragged their feet on a NATO request to deploy the deadly Apaches in the Kosovo war. Once there, the 24 helicopters were kept out of the fight, hobbled by logistical problems--but they still managed to experience debilitating problems, including two accidents, one of which killed two pilots. In the end, the Apaches were grounded without firing a shot.
The once-troubled Apache, however, found new life in the jagged mountains of Afghanistan. Army commanders say the helicopter transformed firefights against Taliban and Al Qaeda warriors, surviving relentless ground fire to deliver Hellfire missiles, Hydra rockets and 30 mm cannon rounds in support of U.S. ground forces.
A war against Iraq would mean an even more ambitious test for the Apache, the world's most sophisticated--and expensive--attack helicopter.
The Army already is shipping Apaches and their crews to the Persian Gulf. The only Army squadron with the advanced Apache Longbows in Europe--the 6th Squadron of the 6th U.S. Cavalry--announced recently that it would dispatch 21 Apaches. Another 70 are being sent to the region from the 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.
Introduced in 1984 for $14 million apiece, the Boeing-made Apache has Kevlar-encased seats for its pilot and co-pilot/gunner. Redundant hydraulics operate flight controls. It has two engines, but can manage with just one.
The $22 million Longbow, an upgrade of earlier models, is laden with gee-whiz electronics that "paint" the battlefield to identify, categorize and transmit targets to other helicopters. Older Apaches required the shooter to lock on to a target and stay locked until the missile hit, said Bob Hunt, an Army aviation spokesman at the Redstone Arsenal, home of the Army Aviation and Missile Command in Huntsville, Ala.
"With the Longbow, you don't have to do that anymore," Hunt said. "You designate the targets, you shoot your missiles, and you turn around and leave. Push the button, shoot and scoot. Big advantages for survivability and lethality."
There never has been any question about the Apache's lethality, but there have been doubts about its safety and reliability. The helicopter has been grounded five times while the Army made fixes to various systems. During the Persian Gulf war, the helicopter was credited with hundreds of tank kills, but it also was supported by more than 200 Boeing technicians who helped Army mechanics troubleshoot persistent problems such as jammed guns.
The Apache's mission--low, terrain-hugging flight day or night--presents inherent dangers. Last year, an Apache "A" model, the Longbow's predecessor, crashed during an Aug. 22 training mission in South Korea, killing two crew members. Three weeks before, an Apache Longbow crashed during another South Korean training mission; the pilot and co-pilot were not injured. Both accidents are under investigation.
Flying low makes the craft susceptible to ground fire, and no helicopter can outpace a heat-seeking missile. If critically damaged, choppers drop like a rock, said Christopher Hellman, a senior analyst at the Center for Defense Information, a Washington think tank.
On the plus side, Hellman said, because helicopters get close to troops on the ground, their targeting systems and weapons can be highly effective.
"They blow great big holes in tank armor," Hellman said. "From the guy on the ground's perspective, you can have no better friend than that."
Some crews profess fierce loyalty to the Apache for its apparent ability to take a shellacking and stay aloft.
"Battle-damaged this, battle-damaged that, blown-apart, whatever, and it still worked," said Army Capt. Gabriel Marriott, an Apache pilot who saw combat in Afghanistan.
In debriefings, enemy detainees told U.S. forces "the Apaches were the most feared weapons on the battlefield," Army Maj. Gen. Franklin "Buster" Hagenbeck, who directed U.S. ground forces in Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan, told Field Artillery magazine last fall. "The helicopters were on top of them before they knew what was happening."
The Afghan experience could best presage how well the Apaches would do in Iraq, where they could face intense enemy fire as they support fast-moving armored columns.
Apaches were called into action Tuesday in Afghanistan in a battle pitting U.S., coalition and Afghan troops against suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda forces along the Pakistan border. Eighteen enemy troops were killed while no Americans were reported killed or injured. The fighting was Afghanistan's fiercest since Operation Anaconda last spring, which proved a major test for the Apache.
During Anaconda, eight Apaches accompanied U.S. forces into the Shah-e Kot Valley to root out Al Qaeda fighters. They began by protecting landing zones for U.S. units coming in aboard transport helicopters, and then supported troops moving toward Al Qaeda positions.
"In the fight, it was the way they changed the battlefield for us that made the difference," said Col. Frank Wiercinski, a 101st Airborne Division brigade commander who led ground troops in Operation Anaconda.
The Apaches became primary targets for Al Qaeda. All eight were damaged by the end of the first day. Repairs were made overnight. Wiercinski requested 16 more Apaches, which arrived from Ft. Campbell, Ky., in just three days.
Pilot Jim Hardy was engaging enemy troops during Anaconda when his radio crackled: Fellow Chief Warrant Officer and pilot Keith Hurley's Apache had taken a hit from a rocket-propelled grenade. The helicopter's transmission was out of oil, threatening to seize the rotors that keep the Apache airborne.
The two choppers landed in a dry riverbed and Hardy jumped out to take a look.
The crew members from the two helicopters could have abandoned the craft and flown home with two emergency harnesses attached to Hardy's good helicopter. But Hardy poured six cans of oil into the transmission and took over the crippled craft, telling Hurley to take his.
Hardy knew the Apache was designed to be able to fly without transmission oil for 30 minutes. The new oil quickly drained out, but the Apache made the 26-minute flight to a refueling point.
Leaving the battered Apache behind, Hardy said, would have brought painful memories of the downing of two Black Hawk helicopters in Somalia in 1993.
"The way they paraded around that helicopter when it was down . . . ," he said. "That was not going to happen with my helicopter."
GRAPHIC: PHOTO GRAPHICPHOTO: Chief Warrant Officer Jim Hardy piloted an Apache helicopter last spring during battle in Afghanistan. Tribune photo by E. Jason Wambsgans.; GRAPHIC: High-tech helicopter may lead first strike; Sources: Boeing, U.S. Army, Federation of American Scientists, Northrop Grumman, Globalsecurity.org; Chicago Tribune/Max Rust and Chris Soprych; See microfilm for complete graphic.
Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
