AH-64 Apache
ICAO H64The West's standard attack helicopter. Live AH-64 Apache positions, where they transmit at all.
Flying right now
Live · 30s- R43009 7,100 ft 14-03009 🇺🇸 United States
- R63105 7,000 ft 16-03105 🇺🇸 United States
- CHAOS24 1,800 ft 21-03386 🇺🇸 United States
- BLOOD02 1,700 ft 22-03484 🇺🇸 United States
- CHAOS22 900 ft 21-03395 🇺🇸 United States
- PNTHR79 500 ft ZM748 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- APACH3 300 ft Q-44 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- APACHE1 -100 ft Q-43 🇳🇱 Netherlands
Airframe
- Manufacturer
- Boeing
- Role
- Attack helicopter
- Class
- H2T — Helicopter, 2 turboshaft engines
- Crew
- 2 — pilot and gunner
- First flight
- 30 September 1975
- In service
- 1986
Operators airborne
About the AH-64 Apache
The Apache is the aircraft most people picture when they think of an attack helicopter, and with good reason: around 2,500 have been built and it is the standard type for the US Army and a dozen allied forces including Britain, the Netherlands, Egypt, Israel, India, Japan and South Korea.
It appears here less than its numbers suggest, and for two reasons. Attack helicopters fly low, which limits ADS-B reception, and they operate on training ranges rather than through civil airspace, where transponder use is expected. Dutch and British Apaches are among the more consistent transmitters.
The current AH-64E Guardian is a substantial rework with more powerful engines, composite rotor blades and the ability to control drones from the cockpit.
Callsign prefixes
- ARMY
- Generic US Army block
- NAF
- Royal Netherlands Air Force
- UKA
- British Army Air Corps
How to recognise it
- —A narrow fuselage with the two crew seated in tandem, gunner in front and pilot stepped up behind.
- —A chin turret under the nose and stub wings carrying weapons pylons.
- —The mast-mounted radar dome above the rotor marks a Longbow-equipped aircraft.
Common questions
+ Why do so few Apaches appear on the tracker?
Attack helicopters fly low and mostly over military ranges, so there is little reason to transmit and little chance of a ground receiver hearing them if they do. A zero on this page is the normal reading.
+ What is the difference between the AH-64D and AH-64E?
The E has more powerful engines, composite main rotor blades, better networking and the ability to control unmanned aircraft. Both share the H64 designator here.
+ What is the dome above the rotor?
The Longbow fire control radar. It sits above the rotor so the aircraft can hide behind terrain and still see over it, exposing only the radar.