The primary two of 29 AH-64Es have arrived at RAAF Base Townsville, the place they are going to be assigned to the first Aviation Regiment.
The primary two new AH-64E Apache helicopters of the Australian Military have arrived at RAAF Base Townsville on Oct. 2, 2025. The helicopters are the primary of 29 that Australia is buying by means of a 2021 International Navy Sale with the USA to exchange the ageing Tiger fleet.
With this supply, Australia turns into the 18th nation to area the Apache, of which 1,300 are operational worldwide. Two extra helicopters will probably be delivered by the tip of the 12 months, says Boeing, with all Australian Apaches anticipated to be delivered by 2029.
Australia and Apache
Australia introduced the AH-64E Apache acquisition in 2021, underneath its Armed Helicopter Reconnaissance Helicopter program initiated to exchange the ageing Tigers. The Eurocopter Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) has been in service in Australia since 2004, though it has lengthy been bothered by maintainability and sustainment points.
The AH-64E was chosen as a confirmed, mature, and off-the-shelf functionality, that includes a network-centric, absolutely built-in weapon system with crewed-uncrewed teaming functionality. The U.S. State Division authorized in June 2021 the FMS, price $3.5 billion, which included the 29 helicopters, weapons and help, in addition to Manned-Unmanned Teaming-2 (MUMTX) tools.
“The AH-64E Apache supplies a essential step change in assault aviation functionality for the Australian Military and builds on the Albanese Authorities’s investments to enhance the Australian Defence Drive’s (ADF) potential to function from Australia’s northern bases,” mentioned the Deputy Prime Minister, Hon Richard Marles MP.
The Australian Protection Division says the Apache will present essential aviation results together with reconnaissance, communications and networking, firepower and offensive help. The Minister for Defence Business, Hon Pat Conroy MP, mentioned “These new assault helicopters are essential to modernising the ADF and reworking the Military right into a pressure optimised for littoral manoeuvre and long-range strike.
The Apaches will probably be assigned to the first Aviation Regiment, which at present operates the Tigers and is relocating to RAAF Base Townsville. Australian Military personnel have been enterprise coaching in the USA and the UK, with quite a few air and floor crew already certified on the Apache.
Australian Business Participation
The Australian trade may have a participation in each the manufacturing and help of the Apache. Boeing, actually, partnered with the Australian Authorities in 2023 and invested in native companies as a part of the deal, with the corporate highlighting that that is the primary time Australian suppliers present parts for the Apache.
Australian firms Cablex and Thomas World Programs will manufacture cabling, and design and manufacture cockpit avionics parts, respectively, for the worldwide fleet of Apaches. Particularly for the Australian Apaches, 4 firms – Cablex, Ferra, Axiom Precision Manufacturing and Mincham – have been chosen to provide wire harnesses, electrical panels, vertical spar field, machined elements, fairings and composites.
“By partnering with the Australian authorities and investing in native companies together with small-and-medium enterprises, this settlement will assist create jobs, develop Australia’s aerospace and manufacturing functionality, and develop the native economic system,” mentioned Kathleen Jolivette, vice chairman and basic supervisor of Boeing Vertical Raise, when the settlement was signed in 2023 on the Avalon 2023 Australian Worldwide Airshow.
Boeing Defence Australia has additionally been awarded a seven-year Apache Preliminary Assist Contract to maintain Australia’s Apaches. The contract covers upkeep, engineering, aircrew and maintainer coaching, and logistics, supporting the focused Preliminary Operational Functionality in late 2026.
“We have now an unmatched sovereign platform sustainment functionality that has enhanced a number of International Navy Sale platforms for the Australian Defence Drive, and we’ll undertake that confirmed method on Australia’s Apache program,” mentioned Scott Carpendale, BDA’s vice chairman and managing director, when the contract was awarded in 2024. “Along with our native elements suppliers, this contract will bolster Australia’s defence trade and ship a reliable new frontline functionality in Australia, for Australians.”
The Protection Division provides that it’s establishing the Townsville Aviation Coaching Academy, which can ship technical programs to coach new trade upkeep personnel for the AH-64E Apache and CH-47F Chinook helicopter fleets. The Albanese Authorities can be investing $700 million to offer important infrastructure upgrades at RAAF Base Townsville to help the introduction of the Apache fleet, in addition to the relocation of the first Aviation Regiment and sixteenth Aviation Brigade Headquarters.
Tiger’s Retirement
The Australian Military is at present evaluating learn how to get rid of its fleet of Eurocopter (now Airbus) Tiger ARHs. Among the many doable choices are the sale of the complete helicopter to a different nation or the sale of the elements to militaries that also function the platform, based on Aviation Week.
The Tiger has been in service with the Australian Military since 2004 and is deliberate to be withdrawn by 2027/2028. The fleet has been suffering from technical and sustainment points, with the 2016 Australian Defence White Paper first asserting the substitute by the mid-2020s.
In 2024, the Australian Military revealed to the Senate Estimates committee there’s a “three-stage plan” to finish the Tiger’s retirement and the transition to the AH-64 Apache Echo. The Tiger fleet will see a progressive withdrawal as personnel, air crew and upkeep transitions to the Apache.
The chief of the Australian Military’s Aviation Command, Maj. Gen. David Hafner, acknowledged that the Tiger was an necessary step for the Australian Military Aviation, enormously rising its expertise with working assault helicopters. By 2024, the Australian Tigers flew 2,997 hours.
