Apache

Automatic Direction Finder 207

birth of 29–30, 32–4

Britain acquires and adapts 32–4

cameras

Day TV camera 30, 55, 73, 84, 187, 246, 252, 286, 291, 292

Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) thermal camera 30, 73, 74, 122, 160, 172, 178, 206, 213, 214, 221, 224, 246, 256, 257, 261, 325, 335, 344

Pilots Night Vision Sight (PNVS) camera 36, 87, 204, 205

climb rate 61

closing down procedure 87–8

cockpits 174

combat manoeuvre 66

combat time 40

computers, on-board 30, 35, 55, 79

control panel 54–5

cost of 33–4, 39, 42, 45, 46, 158, 237, 321, 335–6, 347

crash-landings 202

Defensive Aide Suite 110

de-icer 33

deployment in Afghanistan 12, 13, 39–41

descent 87

design, general 29–31

ECM (Electronic Counter Measures) 33

electrical avionic 18, 30, 45

engines 33, 61, 186

fire extinguisher 176

first sight of 53

fly-by-wire sensors 173

flying regulations 42–3, 45

fuel 44, 87, 174, 226, 279

GPS 200

gun tape laptop 43, 90, 107, 136, 192, 236, 341

health monitoring system 33

heat signature 30

Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aid System (HIDAS) 137–9, 233, 276

hydraulic line 176

manoeuvres 61–2, 66

maximum flying hours 45, 46

monocle 36, 58, 66, 76, 77, 117, 118, 175, 204, 220, 254, 313, 318

Multi Purpose Display (MPD) 55, 60, 67, 71, 74, 77, 79, 87, 121, 122, 124, 145, 186–7, 204, 208, 212, 214, 223, 225, 246, 252, 319

name of 29

pairs, fly in 48

pilots

Black Brain 50, 116, 169, 222, 233, 243

clothing 48–50, 72, 77, 114, 129

Crew Rest Periods 108, 190

day pattern of 104–9

debrief 90–1, 107, 151, 159, 234

‘Deliberate Tasking’ 105, 106, 144, 155, 185, 238–9

‘Duty Ops’ 105

escape plan 201–4

ethos and role of 37–9

evening brief 109

fatigue 189–91

flying regulations 42–3

flying time 107, 236

grab bag 50–1, 114

helmet 55–6, 114, 220, 313

‘IRT/HRF’ (emergency scramble) 106, 113, 114–15, 116, 117, 128, 137, 160, 171, 184, 187–8, 239, 242, 243, 244

morning brief 105, 113

multi–tasking required 35–6

Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) 172, 175, 204, 220

personal possessions 52

physical pressure on 190

post-mission report 107

radios 56, 61, 105, 114, 115, 137, 200, 203, 207, 245, 246, 253, 254, 261, 290

Release To Service 42–3, 202, 341

Relief in Place 244–5, 270

responsibility, sense of 62–3

shifts 105

situational/intelligence brief 92, 93–5, 109, 134, 195–6

survival jackets 200–1, 277, 281, 322

‘Testing and Maintenance’ 106–7

training programme 15, 17, 34–9

weapons and ammunition, personal 50, 51, 114, 288, 301, 310, 311

workload 190

Power Meter Indicator 251

re-arming 87–9

refuelling 87, 226

resilience under fire 30, 173–5

rotor blades 29–30, 33, 59, 77, 174

Saturn radios 33

seats 17, 54, 206

spare parts/maintenance 44, 45

speed of 70

stealth technology 29

surveillance capabilities 29

take-off 53–60

Target Acquisition and Designation Sight (TADS) 3, 4, 5, 6, 30, 36, 45, 55, 66, 67, 71, 74, 77, 87, 111, 117, 118, 121, 123, 124, 145, 149, 152, 157, 160, 171, 186, 204, 205, 206, 212, 215, 216, 217, 230, 246, 251, 253, 254–5, 259, 260, 264, 265, 303

trivia 85–6, 90, 180, 233

Up Front Display (UFD) 55

weapons systems:

cannon 3–4, 22, 30–1, 75–6, 88, 114, 150, 164, 205, 216–17, 218, 224, 225, 226, 247, 249, 266, 269, 289, 291, 299, 300, 324, 338, 347

development of 30–1

firing 71, 74–81

Flechette rocket 31, 75–6, 77–9, 86, 90, 150, 223, 267, 268, 269, 316, 320, 338, 347

HEISAP rocket 31, 266, 311, 316, 320, 338

Hellfire missiles 2–3, 22, 31, 32, 53, 54, 88–9, 90, 104, 110, 114, 118, 119, 122–3, 125, 126, 146, 164, 165, 173, 193, 199, 205, 214, 215, 217, 219, 221, 225, 226, 232, 234, 237, 249, 258, 264, 266, 267, 268, 260, 281, 286, 313, 316, 320, 338, 347

loading 53–4, 58

rockets 22, 31, 114, 117

wheel 66

Balkans conflict 2

Baram Cha 155

Bartlett, Sergeant Paul 3, 7, 8–9, 167

Bell AH1 ‘Huey’ Cobra 29

Billy 34, 38, 42–3, 46, 49, 105, 109, 163, 169, 182, 187, 190, 191, 193, 233

Blair visit to Camp Bastion and 129, 130, 133

callsign 100, 104

Camp Bastion, arrival at 11, 12, 13, 14, 17–18, 19, 23

commission 354

DFC 350, 351, 352

familiarisation flight 58–9, 60, 61, 62, 66, 69

Gereshk 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 80, 85, 86, 87, 90

Kajaki 115, 116, 120, 125

Operation Glacier (Garmsir) 146, 149, 155, 157, 158,

Operation Glacier (Jugroom Fort) 244, 245, 246, 248, 253, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 273, 275, 277, 281, 282, 286, 293, 294, 308, 316, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 328, 329, 330, 332, 333, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 344

Operation Glacier (Koshtay) 197, 199, 202, 205, 206, 211, 213, 216, 218, 219, 221, 225, 226, 227, 228, 233

Blair, Tony 19–20, 126, 127–34, 345

Blundell, Sergeant Kev 88, 89, 92, 109, 126, 226, 234, 321, 323–4, 347

Boeing 29, 33

Bosnia 28

British Army:

Apache, acquires 28–9

casualties 6, 22, 66, 68, 93, 148–9, 150, 151, 152, 170, 193, 243–350

first deployed to Afghanistan 19–20

friendly fire (blue-on-blue) incidents 71, 151, 152, 343–4

Helmand Task Force HQ, Lashkar Gah 12, 111, 115, 198, 227, 228, 231, 254, 342

ISTAR units 94

Joint Operations Cell (JOC) 43–4, 69, 90, 114, 116, 126, 152, 197, 243, 261

Military Internet Relay Chat (MIRC) 136

operations see under individual operation name

reconstruction programmes 22