The Royal Netherlands Air Force took delivery of two new AH-64E attack helicopters on Dec. 13, 2022 at Robert Gray Army Air Field, Texas. The new Apaches are the first two that will be operated by the unit at Fort Hood.
Photo: Eric Franklin, Fort Hood Public Affairs
The Dutch have had a long history with the Apache, operating D-model versions since 1998. The AH-64Es delivered are remanufactured AH-64Ds. The U.S. Department of State approved the remanufacture of the 28 Apaches from Holland in February 2018. It was estimated to have cost the Netherlands $1.191 billion back then. The first remanufactured Apache from the Netherlands was rolled out by Boeing in October 2022.
These new Apaches will be used to train aircrew and maintenance personnel in the coming years. Lt. Col. Wilko de Waard, commander of the 302nd Squadron of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, says the AH-64E is better at integrating with newer fixed-wing and unmanned aircraft systems.
“Having these aircraft over here makes us the first one to train aircrew maintenance personnel to get to the point where they can operate in multi-domain operations,” Wilko de Waard was quoted as saying.
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