Breaking News Report: US Army Stops Accepting Boeing AH-64E Helos

BREAKING NEWS two days ago although the Army decided to not take delivery of AH-64 Echo models in February.   
The suspect in this report: A Strap Pack Nut
Safety inspections by the Army determined it was “not happy” with the performance of the nuts in severe, coastal environments and saw corrosion due to climate and stress, according to a source quoted in a number of articles.

US Army stops accepting AH-64E helos from Boeing due to safety concerns

By: Jen Judson

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has stopped taking deliveries of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from Boeing because the service is not confident in the durability of what it deems a “critical safety” item, Defense News has learned.“We stopped accepting deliveries of new AH-64 Echoes because of a strap pack nut that we believe to be really suspect,” Brig. Gen. Thomas Todd, program executive officer for Army aviation, confirmed to Defense News on April 19.Article continued below after this video insert from Business Insider:
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A small part is causing big problems for Army Apache helicopters ...

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www.businessinsider.com/a-small-part-is-causing-big-problems-for-a...

2 days ago

The Army stopped accepting deliveries of the AH-64E Apache variant from Boeing earlier this year due to ...

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As part of Army safety inspections of the fleet, the service determined it was “not happy” with the performance of the nuts in severe, coastal environments and saw corrosion due to climate and stress, according to Todd.

The nut in question holds very large bolts that subsequently hold the rotor blades on the helicopter and is therefore determined to be a critical safety item, Todd explained

While Boeing had already begun a strap pack nut redesign effort six months prior, the Army decided to not take delivery of AH-64 Echo models in February, Todd said, and received guidance from the Army secretary reinforcing the decision.
the Army decided to not take delivery of AH-64 Echo models in February,

It took Boeing and the Army some time to get at exactly what was the root cause of the corrosion and aggressive wear and tear on the nut. But a cause has been identified and the Army has approved a redesign, and Boeing will provide new nuts after testing of the new design beginning in the summer, Todd said.

The company has been working at a “very thorough but expeditious pace over the last six months,” he said. “We are in testing as we speak.”

The Army has estimates that Boeing will be able to field two Apache battalions per month, starting sometime this summer, with the new parts, Todd said. “And we expect them to keep that pace until complete through the entire fleet as well as [Foreign Military Sales] customers that purchase through the U.S. Army,” he added.

Countries that have bought or ordered AH-64Es are India, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Taiwan.

In fact, Todd said, the Army would push Boeing to do better than two battalions in a month, “so there is every chance that we could accelerate.”

Boeing, in a statement provided to Defense News, said:
“Our highest priority is the safety of the warfighter and the reliability of our products. We’re continuing to partner with the Army to address issues, deploying Boeing experts to assist the Army in the field with inspections, and return to the delivery schedule. . .
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There are 653 AH-64Es currently fielded. “We are stable there because ultimately we stopped inductions as well because we did not want to hurt the fleet,” Todd said.

Boeing builds an average of six AH-64Es per month in its Mesa, Arizona, facility.

> When the Army first fielded the Echo model, it was forced to ground the entire fleet within a month of declaring operational capability following an incident at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, in December 2013, related to a transmission issue. The service and Boeing resolved the issue in roughly a month.

> There have been eight AH-64E mishaps since the Army began fielding the variant in 2013, with five of those considered major accidents involving millions of dollars in damage and/or causing fatalities or major injuries.
A crash in 2016 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, resulted in the loss of both crew members. And earlier this month, also at Fort Campbell, an Apache crashed, killing both soldiers.
(See more news reports below)

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About this Author

Jen Judson is the land warfare reporter for Defense News.

She has covered defense in the Washington area for over six years. She was previously a reporter at Politico Pro Defense and InsideDefense.com

Link > Defense News 19 April 2018 




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