AH-6 | Photo: Boeing
Boeing has received a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) contract from the U.S. Department of Defense for eight AH-6 light attack reconnaissance helicopters for the Royal Thai Army.
With this USD 103.7 million contract, Thailand is the second international customer for the helicopter, after Saudi Arabia.
Welcoming the order, Boeing’s business development director of Attack Helicopter Programs, Jessie Farrington, said in a statement “From its unmatched power-to-weight ratio to its extensive, integrated digital communications suite, the AH-6 offers superior performance, capability and versatility and will be a force-multiplier for the Royal Thai Army.”
The AH-6 will replace the AH-1F helicopters of the Royal Thai Army with deliveries expected through 2024. The aircraft will be produced in Mesa, Arizona.
Calling the AH-6 a ‘beneficiary of ongoing AH-64 Apache modernization efforts’, Boeing said ‘the AH-6 features an advanced mission computer capable of processing large amounts of data and sharing system information with the rest of the aircraft quickly — enhancing safety and situational awareness, enabling faster decision making, reducing pilot workload and decreasing support costs throughout the aircraft’s life cycle.’
Cutaway of the AH-6i | Graphic: Boeing
Read a detailed report on the AH-6
The AH-6 derives 89 percent of its software from the AH-64 and incorporates a four-bladed Apache tail rotor and a six-bladed main rotor, and a fully-integrated glass cockpit. In terms of crashworthiness, the seat on the AH-6 is rated to almost 30Gs and all the fuel tanks are ballistic-tolerant against .50 calibre munition, with a separable main tank and self-sealing auxiliary tank.
Weapons integrated with the AH-6 include the M-134 mini-gun, GAU-19 .50 calibre, 7-shot rocket pods that can fire the lock-on-after-launch BAE Systems’ APKWS (Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System), the Raytheon Talon or the lock-on-before-launch Lockheed Martin DAGR (Direct Attack Guided Rocket), in addition to the SAL (Semi-Active Laser) Hellfire missile.
The AH-6 is powered by the Rolls-Royce 250-C47E/1 dual FADEC engine.
