A deal worth 263 million Kuwaiti dinars ($871.4 million) was concluded Saturday, August 31, under which the US-based Boeing Company will provide Kuwait's Defense Ministry with 16 AH-64D Apache Longbow, reported the official KUNA agency. The attack helicopters’ first delivery is scheduled to take place by 2005.
The deal had been under negotiation since 1991, following the Iraqi invasion to its neighboring emirate. Under a post-Gulf War plan, Kuwait also sought to purchase four spare General Electric-manufactured T-700-GE-701C engines, several Lockheed Martin Hellfire air-to-ground missiles as well as associated equipment and services, for a total value of $2.1 billion.
The national rearmament program is carried out within the framework of efforts to establish a regional defense shield, by linking the military command systems of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The AH-64 Apache multi-mission combat helicopters are equipped with radar systems. The Apache Longbow, the world's only fourth-generation attack helicopter, is the only combat helicopter in service with the ability to rapidly detect, classify, prioritize and engage stationary or moving enemy targets at standoff ranges in nearly all weather environments. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
