Boeing awarded $1.149bn

and the US Army recently signed a $1.149bn contract for the remanufacture of 96 AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters for the US Army and 30 AH-64Ds for the

.

Boeing will deliver the first remanufactured Apache Longbow produced under the new contract to the US Army in October. Work began in March 2006 following the award of a long-lead agreement.

The contract brings the total number of remanufactured US Army AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters to 597. The US Army has ordered an additional 27 new-build Apaches as war-replacement aircraft.

The US Army Apache Longbow aircraft are in addition to the 501 remanufactured AH-64D Apache Longbows built between 1997 and 2006 under two five-year, multi-year contracts. Under a foreign military sales agreement, the United Arab Emirates is upgrading its fleet of AH-64A Apache helicopters to the next-generation configuration.

According to Boeing, the Apache Longbow helicopters feature fully integrated avionics and weapons and can rapidly detect, classify, prioritise and engage stationary and moving targets at standoff ranges in nearly all weather environments.