IMH 2024: British Army to declare IOC for AH-64E force

Seen at a media event at the type's Wattisham Airfield home operating station, the AH-64E will soon be declared to be IOC by the British Army. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)

The British Army is to declare initial operating capability (IOC) for its Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopter force in the coming days, a senior official said on 28 February.

Speaking at the IQPC International Military Helicopter (IMH) 2024 conference in London, the official who was presenting under the Chatham House Rule said that with 38 of 50 remanufactured airframes now delivered back to the UK, IOC will be declared in March.

“We are now nearing [the] end of our AH-64E fielding, and we will bring this capability to operational readiness next month,” the official said.

News of the imminent declaration of IOC came four months after the British Army said in October 2023 that its first AH-64E unit was “ready for front-line” operations, after the Army Air Corps' (AAC's) 3 Regiment passed its validation tests in September 2023.

The AAC began receiving its remanufactured AH-64E helicopters at the Middle Wallop site of the Army Aviation Centre in March 2022. This site will share the training burden alongside the type's main operating base at Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk, in the east of England.