Delivery of this platform against this order commenced with the batch of first four Apache helicopters being handed over to the IAF in July 2019 and all 22 helicopters were delivered by July 2020. The Apache attack helicopters have been inducted to replace the ageing fleet of Mi-35 attack helicopters that had been procured from Russia in 1990. In September 2015, through the Foreign Military Sales programme of the government of United States (US), the Indian government finalised a contract with Boeing for the purchase of 22 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to equip two squadrons in the IAF. The current state of combat helicopter fleets in both the IAF and the Army Aviation Corps has been described in the succeeding paragraphs. As a result, the involvement of combat helicopter fleets of the IAF in tactical battle scenarios, is expected to reduce. However, in recent times, there has been a major change in policy due to which the Army Aviation Corps is now going to induct combat helicopters in large numbers in the years to come.
The Army Aviation Corps has been operating primarily light helicopters to operate to areas not easily accessible by other means.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) as well as the Aviation Corps of the Indian Army have been operating rotary-wing platforms, but traditionally, ownership of combat helicopters had been restricted to the former. AH-64E Apache attack helicopter are the latest addition to the fleet of combat helicoptersĪlthough the aerial combat regime of the Indian armed forces is dominated by fixed-wing combat aircraft, the rotary-wing component is beginning to gain ground as it has a significant role to play in tactical combat scenarios.
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