India to get 1st batch of 3 US Apaches this month
The first three Boeing-manufactured Apache gunships will be delivered around July 15, with the next three coming by Nov. US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth had assured defence minister
Rajnath Singh
, during a telephonic conversation Tuesday, that the six heavy-duty choppers will be delivered within this year, as was reported by TOI.
The six Apache helicopters for the Army will add to 22 such choppers inducted by IAF under the Rs 13,952 crore deal with the US in Sept 2015.
One of those choppers was badly damaged after a hard landing near Khardung La in Ladakh on April 4 last year.
The Army had raised the Apache squadron at Jodhpur along the western front with Pakistan in March last year but there have been multiple delays in delivery of the choppers due to supply chain problems. The Apaches are armed with Stinger air-to-air missiles, Hellfire Longbow air-to-ground missiles, guns and rockets.
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