Boeing

Boeing [NYSE: BA] and the U.S. Army have signed a $276.4 million contact for 18 new AH-64D Apache Longbow multi-role combat helicopters.

The contract raises to 45 the number of new-build Apache Longbows on order with the U.S. Army. The U.S. Army also recently contracted for the remanufacture of 96 AH-64A Apaches into AH-64Ds. Boeing will begin delivery of these new-build helicopters in mid-2009 at its manufacturing facility in Mesa, Ariz., where Apaches have been built since the program's inception.

"The combat-proven Apache Longbow continues to support our warfighters and the battlefield commander's requirements across the full spectrum of operations," said David Almond, Boeing Block II Apache program manager. "We remain committed to producing the most superior attack helicopter in the world -- a helicopter that our soldiers can count on each and every time."

The U.S. Army uses the Apache Longbow to fulfill attack helicopter and reconnaissance requirements. Featuring fully integrated avionics and weapons, plus state-of-the-art digital communications capabilities, the Apache Longbow can rapidly detect, classify, prioritize and engage stationary and moving opposition targets at standoff ranges in nearly all weather environments.

The new U.S. Army Apache Longbow aircraft, to be built in the Block II configuration, are in addition to the 501 remanufactured AH-64D Apache Longbows built between 1997 and 2006 under two five-year, multi-year contracts.