The AH-64 Apache is a heavy attack helicopter featured in both ArmA: Cold War Assault and ArmA 2.
ArmA: Cold War Assault[]
The AH-64 is used exclusively by U.S. military forces in ArmA: Cold War Assault.
Overview[]
- Role:
- Heavy gunship
| « | AH-64 Apache is the Army's primary attack helicopter. It is a quick-reacting, airborne weapon system that can fight close and deep to destroy, disrupt, or delay enemy forces. The Apache can carry up to 16 Hellfire laser designated missiles, and can also deliver 2.75" folding fin aerial rockets for use against enemy personnel, light armor vehicles and other soft-skinned targets. Vehicle Description
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Design[]
The AH-64 Apache is a twin-engined, four-bladed, multi-mission attack helicopter that was designed to be a stable and highly survivable aerial weapons platform. It is operable under all lighting and weather conditions and is mainly designed to serve as a tank hunter.
Armament
It is armed with a single 30 mm chain gun mounted beneath the nose of the fuselage and has air-to-ground anti-tank guided missiles fitted onto the pylons on each stub wing, as well as two 70 mm rocket pods.
The 30 mm chain gun feeds from a single 500-round linked belt of high-explosive dual purpose (HEDP) shells, while the rocket pods each carry 19 rockets fitted with high-explosive (HE) warheads for a grand total of 38 rockets. Each stub wing has up to four Hellfire air-to-ground missiles fitted onto their pylons for a total of 8 ATGMs.
Features
Intended to meet the threat of Soviet Main Battle Tank formations on the fields of Western Europe, the AH-64 is one of the most advanced attack helicopters in service with the U.S. military at the height of the Cold War.
Unlike the lighter AH-1 gunship, the AH-64 is better armoured and slightly more resistant to large calibre anti-aircraft weapons, especially against the 23 mm cannons used by the Soviet ZSU. The AH-64 flies faster and has (arguably) better handling since its engines are more powerful.
Crew Capacity
The AH-64 is only able to carry a crew of two that consists of both the pilot and the gunner.
Protection[]
The AH-64 has 80 points worth of armour plating.
Armament[]
The gunner position controls the turret-mounted Cannon 30 mm and Hellfire missiles/FFAR rocket pods carried onto stub wings located on both sides of the airframe:
Cannon 30 mm[]
| Base damage value | Initial velocity (m/s) |
|---|---|
| 100 | 1,000 |
General-purpose 30 mm autocannon. Can only load HE-type shells which have a blast radius of 2 metres.
It can attain a fire rate of ~ 333 rounds per minute and has a muzzle velocity of 1,000 m/s. It has an effective firing range of up to 1,500 metres.
Hellfire[]
| Damage type | Base damage value |
|---|---|
| High-Explosive Anti-Tank | 900 |
Air-to-ground anti-tank missile. Utilises infrared-guidance and has a maximum lock-on range of 1,500 metres.
Hellfire missiles are launched with an initial velocity of 30 m/s and take a further 5.5 seconds to reach a top in-flight speed of 200 m/s. The warhead itself has a blast radius of 2.5 metres.
FFAR[]
| Damage type | Base damage value |
|---|---|
| High-Explosive | 700 |
Unguided air-to-ground 70 mm rockets. Useful against small groups of infantry and unarmoured vehicles.
It can fire rockets at a rate of one every 0.15 seconds (400 rounds per minute), and has an effective firing range of between 250-500 metres up to a maximum range of 1,000 metres.
The rockets have initial launch velocities of 44 m/s and take 3.5 seconds for their motors to reach a top in-flight speed of 200 m/s. The warheads themselves have a blast radius of 3 metres.
Trivia[]
- The Apache was not originally available at release and were only added to Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis after Patch 1.20 (the original name of Cold War Assault prior to its re-release).[1]
Gallery[]
ArmA 2[]
The AH-64D is used by both the U.S. Marines and U.S. Army forces in ArmA 2.
Overview[]
- Role:
- Heavy gunship
| « | The AH-64D Apache Longbow is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter with tandem cockpit for a crew of two - a pilot and a gunner. The helicopter s equipped with 30 mm M230 chain gun and a combination of guided AGM-114 Hellfire and unguided Hydra 70 rockets. Armoury Description
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Design[]
The AH-64D is the latest variant in the Apache family of gunships that incorporates new avionics and most significantly, the "Longbow" radar mounted atop the main rotor.
Armament
By default, it is always armed with a pair of 70 mm rocket pods, a 30 mm chain gun fitted beneath the nose of the cockpit, and air-to-ground ATGMs mounted onto racks on each stub wing.
While the ArmA 2 AH-64D has a similar loadout to its Cold War Assault counterpart, the total amount of spare ammunition for the M230 chain gun is more than doubled as it feeds from a 1,200-round belt instead of a 500-round one (its shells are also HEDP).
It can still carry up to 8 Hellfire ATGMs at a time, while each Hydra pod contains 19 rockets for a total of 38.
Features
Like its Cold War-era predecessor, the AH-64D serves as the heavy counterpart to the lighter AH-1Z gunship. It is far more heavily armoured compared to the AH-1Z and is also equipped with a 30 mm chain gun as opposed to a 20 mm cannon.
The chain gun's HEDP shells are more than capable of tearing through the plating of medium armoured vehicles and is even able to damage the exposed components on MBTs. Notably, the AH-64D's radar is slightly more powerful and can detect enemy ground vehicles from a greater distance than the AH-1Z.
Though it doesn't carry any air-to-air missiles as standard, the AH-64D can be retrofitted with a full loadout of short-range AAMs to fight off enemy helicopters and even (at least threaten) low-flying fixed-wing jets.
Drawbacks
Its only real downside is that its handling is slightly stiffer due to being the heavier helicopter of the two, which causes it to lose speed rather quickly when making sharp turns. The AH-1Z on the other hand, is more agile and turns better while retaining its current airspeed.
Crew Capacity
The AH-64D has enough seats for a crew of two who are seated in a tandem layout, with the pilot sitting behind and above the co-pilot/gunner.
Variants[]
Both the rocket pods and 30 mm chain gun are retained on this sub-variant.
Protection[]
Both variants of the AH-64D have base armour values of 60.
Hull[]
The hull can withstand 60 points of damage.
Engine[]
The engine can only survive 15 points of damage before failing. A damaged engine will cause AH-64Ds to have difficulty gaining lift due to a reduced power output.
Instruments[]
The cockpit's flight instruments can only take 9 points of damage. The pilot/gunner's Head Mounted Display (HMD) will flicker if damaged but will only be disabled if the instruments are critically damaged.
Main rotor[]
The main rotor can only withstand 18 points of damage. Disabling the main rotor will prevent the pilot from being able to maintain lift. 30% of damage is always transferred onto the main "health" pool of the AH-64D.
Tail rotor[]
The tail rotor is limited to taking just 12 points of damage. Disabling the tail rotor will prevent the pilot from being able to control the main rotor's torque. At least 10% of damage will be shared with the main "health" pool of the AH-64D.
Armament[]
The AH-64D's pilot exclusively has access to the twin Hydra 70 rocket pods. On the other hand, the gunner controls the turret-mounted M230 30 mm chain gun and AGM-114 Hellfire anti-tank guided missiles.
For optics, the gunner's turret camera can toggle between three fields of view and can switch between day and night vision modes, as well as a green-hot thermal vision mode:
M230[]
| Base damage value | Aerodynamic friction | Initial velocity (m/s) |
|---|---|---|
| 67 | -0.0009 | 805 |
General-purpose 30 mm chain gun. Strong against groups of infantry and unarmoured/lightly armoured ground vehicles, as well as low-flying helicopters.
It can attain a fire rate of up to 625 rounds per minute and has a muzzle velocity of 805 m/s. At distances of approximately 1,500 metres, the M230 has a dispersion spread of 0.002 rad. The shells are partially considered to be armour piercing. They have a blast radius of only 1 metre.
The M230 has access to a laser rangefinder. However, it does not support automatic zeroing and can only be manually zeroed from a minimum of 100 m up to a maximum of 1500 m. Adjustments are always made with increments/decrements of 100 m.
Hydra 70[]
| Damage type | Base damage value | Maximum speed (m/s) |
|---|---|---|
| High-Explosive | 150 | 740 |
Forward-facing, twin 70 mm rocket pods. Fires unguided rockets that are strong against clumped-up infantry and unarmoured/lightly armoured ground vehicles.
Rockets are always launched in pairs. There is an imposed delay of 0.08 seconds in-between launches (750 RPM). They have initial velocities of 44 m/s and take a further 1.1 seconds for their motors to reach a top speed of 740 m/s in mid-flight. The warheads themselves have a blast radius of 12 metres.
AGM-114 Hellfire[]
NOTE: Only available on the baseline AH-64D variant.
| Damage type | Base damage value | Maximum speed (m/s) |
|---|---|---|
| High-Explosive Anti-Tank | 800 | 425 |
Anti-tank guided missiles. Locks on via infrared only but can also be guided via laser instead (both have a maximum range of 8,000 metres).
Missiles are soft launched and take a further 3.25 seconds after launch to reach a top speed of 425 m/s in mid-flight. There is always an imposed delay of 1 second in-between launches. The warhead has a blast radius of 2 metres. When locking on via IR, the missile's seeker has a 20% chance to lose lock against smoke-based countermeasures.
AIM-9L Sidewinder[]
NOTE: Only available on the AH-64D (AA) variant.
| Damage type | Base damage value | Maximum speed (m/s) |
|---|---|---|
| High-Explosive | 200 | 828 |
Short-ranged, infrared-guided air-to-air missile. Has a maximum lock-on range of 6,000 metres.
The AIM-9L has a firing delay of 0.1 seconds in-between launches. Assuming that the AH-64D is rearming from a logistical vehicle, it takes a full 30 seconds to rearm all missiles.
Launched missiles take 10 seconds for their motors to reach a top speed of 500 m/s in mid-flight. The warhead itself has a blast radius of 7 metres. The missile's seeker has a 20% chance to have its lock get broken by flare-based countermeasures.
Avionics[]
MAWS[]
The AH-64D has an integrated Missile Approach Warning System and will alert the pilot of incoming missiles that are locked onto it.
RWR[]
The AH-64D has a Radar Warning Receiver and will alert the pilot of being locked onto by radar-based targeting systems.
IWR[]
The AH-64D has an Infrared Warning Receiver and will alert the pilot of being locked onto by infrared-based targeting systems.
Trivia[]
- The A2A-only version of the AH-64D (Classname: AH64D_Sidewinders) cannot be placed in the editor and can only be created via script.
- The AH-64D was not initially available in ArmA 2 and was only added following the release of Patch 1.05, which was also bundled with the bonus (non-canon) Eagle Wing campaign.[2]
- In reality, the U.S. Marine Corps does not operate the AH-64 or any of its sub-variants. The closest equivalent would be the smaller and lighter "AH-1Z Viper" gunship, which roughly serves in the same role as the U.S. Army's Apache.
- Strangely, the non-canon Eagle Wing campaign also shows the Apache being operated by the U.S. Navy.[3] In the real world, the U.S. Navy does not utilise either airframe for any role.
- Before the latest Steam version patches (as part of CorePatch), the M230 chain gun was capped to a maximum zeroing of 1200 m.[4] The gunner's camera also used black-hot and white-hot thermal vision modes.[5] CorePatch increased its zeroing to 1500 m and changed the colour spectrums to only green-hot instead.[6]
Gallery[]
  Interior view of the cockpit.          |
References[]
- ↑ Mcnicoll, J et al. 2006, Operation Flashpoint: Version History, Bohemia Interactive Community Wiki, viewed 3 March 2023, <https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Operation_Flashpoint:_Version_History#Patch_v1.20>.
- ↑ Bohemia Interactive a.s., 2009, ARMA 2 Update 1.05 released, Arma 2, viewed 3 March 2023, <https://arma2.com/latest-news/arma-2-update-105-released>.
- ↑ ARMA 2 2009 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., Eagle Wing, End of the World, "Ed Winter, Lieutenant, United States Navy. The shockwave from the nuke disabled my chopper. Why the hell did you do that?"
- ↑ ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead 2010 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., \ca\air_e\ah64\config.bin, CfgVehicles >> AH64D >> Turrets >> MainTurret >> discreteDistance[]
- ↑ ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead 2010 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., \ca\air_e\ah64\config.bin, CfgVehicles >> AH64D >> Turrets >> MainTurret >> OpticsIn >> Wide >> thermalMode[]
- ↑ Mazzon, M et al. 2019, CorePatch, GitHub, viewed 3 January 2024, <https://github.com/Goliath86/CorePatch/blob/master/Changelog.txt>.
External links[]
See also[]
Aircraft of comparable role and configuration[]
- AH-1 Cobra (Medium U.S. counterpart, ArmA: CWA only)
- Ka-50 (Soviet counterpart, ArmA: CWA only)
- AH-1Z (Medium USMC counterpart, ArmA 2 only)
- Apache AH-1 (British Army counterpart, ArmA 2: BAF only)
- Ka-52 (Russian Armed Forces counterpart, ArmA 2 only)
| Vehicles of ArmA: Cold War Assault | |
|---|---|
| Wheeled | Bike • BRDM • Bus • HMMWV • Motorcycle • PV3S • Jeep • SCUD • Skoda • Small car • Sports car • Trabant • Tractor • Truck 5T • UAZ • Ural |
| Tracked | BMP-1 • BMP-2 • M1A1 • M113 (Vulcan) • M60A3 • M2A2 Bradley • Shilka • T-55 • T-72 • T-80 |
| Rotor-wing | AH-1 Cobra • AH-64 • CH-47D • Ka-50 • Mi-17 • Mi-24 • OH-58 • UH-60 |
| Fixed-wing | A-10 • Plane • Sopwith F.1 Camel • Su-25 |
| Aquatic | Boat • LST • Mark II PBR |
| (Parenthesis) denote variants. | |
 United States - Vehicles (ArmA: Cold War Assault)
| |
|---|---|
| Wheeled | HMMWV • Jeep • Truck 5T |
| Tracked | M1A1 • M113 (Vulcan) • M60A3 • M2A2 Bradley |
| Rotor-wing | AH-1 Cobra • AH-64 • CH-47D • OH-58 • UH-60 |
| Fixed-wing | A-10 • Sopwith F.1 Camel |
| Aquatic | LST • Mark II PBR |
| (Parenthesis) denote variants. | |
 USMC - Vehicles (ArmA 2)
| |
|---|---|
| Wheeled | HMMWV • LAV-25 • Motorcycle • Mountain bike • MTVR • Towing Tractor |
| Tracked | AAVP-7A1 • M1 Abrams (M1A2 TUSK) • M270 MLRS |
| Rotor-wing | AH-1Z • AH-64D • UH-1Y • MH-60S |
| Fixed-wing | A-10 Thunderbolt II • AV-8B Harrier • C-130J Hercules • F-35 Lightning II • MQ-9 Reaper • MV-22 Osprey |
| Aquatic | CRRC • RHIB |
| (Parenthesis) denote variants. | |
 U.S. Army - Vehicles (ArmA 2)
| |
|---|---|
| Wheeled | ATV • HMMWV • Motorcycle • MTVR • Stryker (MGS) |
| Tracked | M1 Abrams (M1A2 TUSK) • M2 Bradley • M270 MLRS |
| Rotor-wing | AH-6J Little Bird (AH-6X) • AH-64D • CH-47F Chinook • MH-6J Little Bird • UH-60 Black Hawk |
| Fixed-wing | A-10 Thunderbolt II • C-130J Hercules • MQ-9 Reaper |
| (Parenthesis) denote variants. Operation Arrowhead | |