The United States is not only not going to abandon AH-64 helicopters, but also intend to sharply increase their combat potential. The best testimony of this is the recent test of the SPIKE NLOS rocket. Thanks to her, the coalcasting machine was able to hit the target on the range, which is about four times the range of the standard APACHE - AGM-114 Hellfire missile range.
The AH-64E helicopter, which took off from the Eglin Air Force Base, successfully launched the missile on a fixed boat, which was at a distance of 17.3 sea miles (about 32 kilometers). Tests spent in February. The subsequent test for the demonstration of the ability to attack the moving vessel was canceled due to adverse weather conditions.
"We were glad to experience a new weapon system here, in Eglene," said Amanda Hargett, test engineer of the 780th test squadron of the US Air Force, in the published statement. "Our team worked closely with the ground forces to make sure that everything went smoothly and the demonstration was successful."
The US Army wants to obtain a weapon that would allow the rolling machines during the fulfillment of combat problems outside the zone of the defeat of modern anti-aircraft complexes, such as the Russian Poles-C1. The famous HellFire rocket range is about 8-10 kilometers, which is not enough to ensure security.
Since SPIKE NLOS has a range outside of the direct appearance of Apache, the land forces hope to use external sensors to relay, which, in particular, can be installed on armored personnel carriers and CAP.
Spike NLOS is a universal Israeli rocket of the SPIKE family. It is a multipurpose multiplatform electron-optical rocket system designed to destroy armored vehicles, bunkers, small ships and other purposes. Electro-optical rocket control allows you to determine the target after starting, choosing the most priority.
And although, as already noted above, the US Army does not intend to refuse Apache, in the future she wants to supplement his reconnaissance helicopter of a new type. Earlier it became known that he can also get a rocket rocket.
A conventional Russian response can be considered a missile complex "Product-305", tested in Syria.
Source: Naked Science