AH-64A Peten (USA)
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Contents
Description
The ▃AH-64A Peten is a premium gift rank VI American attack helicopter with a battle rating of 10.3 (AB/SB) and 11.7 (RB). It was introduced in Update 1.97 "Viking Fury".
General info
Flight performance
The AH-64A Peten is one of the fastest helicopters in the game as it has a very powerful engine, which also gives the Peten a good climb rate. Manoeuvrability at high speed is excellent.
| Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 1,000 m) |
Max altitude (metres) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | ||
| Stock | 275 | 257 | 5400 |
| Upgraded | 324 | 300 | |
Survivability and armour
The Peten is a very tough helicopter, and can usually take a couple of hits from air-to-air missiles and small-calibre cannon rounds and still fly. The crew is very well protected, so getting pilot-sniped is a rare occurrence. The engines can also usually take a hit or two without exploding like other engines.
Modifications and economy
2 × 50 / 270 / 370 % 2 × 232 / 232 / 232 % | Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||
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Armaments
Offensive armament
The AH-64A Peten (USA) is armed with:
- 1 x 30 mm M230E-1 cannon, chin turret (1,200 rpg)
The Peten has the same 30 mm cannon as the other Apaches in the game currently, and only has one belt choice. The belt carries only HEDP rounds, and can penetrate up to 51 mm of armour. The gun is fast firing, but relatively inaccurate, so shooting in close range is the best way to hit your target. If you don't mind the inaccuracy of the gun, it is a very good weapon all around. It can be locked in gunner and 3rd person view and will automatically track the target.
Suspended armament
The AH-64A Peten (USA) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
- 76 x Hydra-70 M247 rockets
- 8 x AGM-114B Hellfire missiles + 38 x Hydra-70 M247 rockets
- 16 x AGM-114B Hellfire missiles
- 4 x AIM-92 Stinger missiles
- 4 x AIM-92 Stinger missiles + 76 x Hydra-70 M247 rockets
- 4 x AIM-92 Stinger missiles + 16 x AGM-114B Hellfire missiles
The Peten can carry up to 16 Hellfire ATGMs with over 1,000 mm of pen, 76 Hydra rockets with over 200 mm of pen, or 4 Stinger AAMs. The weapons are carried on the stub wings and can be carried in several different variations. The Hellfires are excellent missiles, although since the player must keep "painting" a laser beam on the target, misses can occur if the target lock slips. The Hydra rockets are generally very effective, especially when used with the ballistic computer. 76 rockets is enough for 3-5 tanks if they are used by an experienced player. However, the Stinger AAMs are not the best in the game by any stretch, with relatively little explosive mass and only a 10G overload. They may take 2-3 hits to damage aircraft, and heavily armoured helicopters such as the Mi-28 may survive multiple hits.
Usage in battles
Overview:
The AH-64A Peten is an excellent helicopter for attacking ground targets, and can also hold its own against many enemy aircraft. Through adequate use of cover, teamwork, and game sense, the Apache can easily dismantle enemy teams. An Apache pilot must understand all of the tools at their disposal. The only difference between the Peten and the tech tree AH-64A is that the Peten lacks access to the AIM-9L Sidewinders as an ordnance option.
The Apache has an arsenal of weapons. The most effective anti-tank weapon in the Apache's arsenal is the AGM-114 Hellfire, which uses a top attack trajectory to destroy ground vehicles. There is functionally very little difference between the AGM-114B and K variants, used on early and late Apaches respectively.
Staying Alive:
Flying the Apache effectively can be more difficult than most players would imagine. Trying to deal with threats from enemy air and ground vehicles while continuing to attack the enemy team can be difficult. If distracted, a pilot can quickly lose situational awareness. Being successful in the Apache requires situational awareness above all else. Due to the fragility of the helicopter, any blindspot can lead to a quick and sudden death. Additionally, the mobility of the Apache is adequate but not impressive, so evasive manoeuvres are not always effective.
Using cover is a very important part of staying alive in the Apache. Always stay behind a hill or building in ground battles. When exposing yourself in order to fire on the enemy, be mindful to not gain too much altitude. Most importantly, Always listen to your RWR. If you hear an alarm, take evasive action immediately.
Additionally, it is important to know when to use flares. Flares are extremely effective against heat-seeking missiles, but useless against any other missiles. It is the responsibility of the Apache pilot to recognize the threat and decide whether to use flares or not.
Air-to-Air (Stinger and Gun):
The Apache is surprisingly potent in air-to-air combat. Engagements should be conducted primarily through the use of the AIM-92 Stinger missiles. The Stinger is a simple but effective air-to-air missile. It has an excellent seeker head and can obtain all aspect lock on almost any air target within 3-5 km (even propeller aircraft with a low heat signature). However, the Stinger can be easily fooled by flares or outmanoeuvred by a fast enemy aircraft. The best way to use the Stinger against enemy aircraft is when they are heading directly towards you. If fired at the right second, most enemies will struggle to dodge a Stinger.
If the enemy gets close, the 30 mm autocannon can be extremely effective. The gun will automatically aim with optical lock, so Apache pilots can aim accurately while taking evasive manoeuvres.
Close Range Air-to-Ground (Gun and Rockets):
At close range, the Apache has excellent offensive capability. The 30 mm autocannon is incredibly accurate even at surprisingly far distances. This cannon uses a High Explosive Dual Purpose round that can engage lightly armoured targets. Rocket pods can also be used, with the CCIP computer helping maintain accuracy even at further distances. Be careful when trying to use the Hellfire missile at close range. It can do a direct attack at closer ranges (rather than its usual top attack) but if fired at an odd angle, it may not have time to manoeuvre onto the target if fired at closer ranges.
The problem with trying to engage at close range is that doing so will put the Apache in huge amounts of danger. Enemy tanks will be able to quickly destroy the Apache with their main guns or anti-aircraft machine guns.
Long Range Air-to-Ground (Hellfire):
At longer ranges, the Hellfire missile can be used to full effect. The Hellfire will guide on its target as shown in the attached diagram. This is known as top attack. Being that it takes this path to the enemy target, the Hellfire can take upward of 30 seconds to reach its target at longer ranges. Do not fire at enemies that are about to move to cover, and make sure to fire multiple missiles at once in order to deal maximum damage. Because the Hellfire is laser guided, multiple missiles can be fired at once. They should be fired at intervals of 5-10 seconds, where between missiles the Apache can switch to a new ground target. This will allow for the quick destruction of multiple enemies. This tactic can be incredibly effective. Although the time to target for the most recently fired Hellfire is available on the HUD, pilots will have to keep track of all the missiles they have fired by memory and quick calculations.
Combatting enemy anti-aircraft vehicles can be a challenge. Always remain in cover and move unpredictably in combat. Use the radar warning receiver to obtain the general direction of enemy AA, and then attack with a Hellfire. An effective strategy is to fire a Hellfire, break optical lock to gain cover and avoid counterfire, and then pop back up and get lock again several seconds before the Hellfire hits. This strategy if applied correctly will result in a hit, as the Hellfire is smart enough to begin following the laser designator again once the Apache re-obtains its lock.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Activation of 3rd person lock by changing MFD on the pilot's view
- Very high top speed, if you stay low or high you are always the most manoeuvrable
- Amazing 30 mm cannon, can easily take out most tanks, and when locked can take out jets and helicopters too
- Excellent secondary armament
- Can carry up to 16 Hellfires and still carry AAMs
- Can use ballistic computer to dramatically increase the effectiveness of Hydra rockets
- Can lock targets for 30 mm cannon to automatically track
- Excellent thermals
- Well armoured for a helicopter, can take 2-3 critical hits to take it down, may survive hits from SAM's.
Cons:
- Stinger air to air missiles don't have a reliable lock, and not enough explosive mass to do any real damage
- Hellfires rarely hit other helicopters, and are difficult to guide to air targets anyway
- Does not have as many armament options as non-premium AH-64s
- 30 mm cannon only can access default belt
- 30 mm cannon is relatively inaccurate
- AAMs cannot reliably take down armoured helicopters
History
Israeli involvement in the Apache programs goes back to June 1983, when a prototype for the AH-64A Apache was sent to Israel for flight testing (by Israeli pilots) and testing of the aircraft in desert conditions. The testing directly resulted in a recommendation by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) for purchase of the Apache in order to increase the IAF's anti-tank capabilities.
Israel became the first nation to have received the AH-64A Apache - other than the US - on 11 September 1990, when the first helicopter arrived. The first nation on the list for export had been Kuwait, but when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990 the order was delayed. The first two helicopters were assembled in eleven hours - half the time that McDonnell Douglas recommended - and they arrived a day before the planned welcoming ceremony. By 2000, the IAF was operating 42 AH-64As. The AH-64A in Israeli service is known as the AH-64A Peten, which translates to 'Cobra'.
The AH-64A was put into service, and its first combat action occurred on 24 October 1990, with an attack on suspected terrorist positions. AH-64A Petens were used heavily during the 1993 Operation Accountability in Lebanon. They also participated in the 1996 Operation Grapes of Wrath against Hezbollah in Lebanon. On 13 April 1996, AH-64s killed six civilians when they fired two Hellfire missiles at an ambulance. Israeli AH-64s were used to kill senior figures in Hamas during the al-Aqsa Intifada in the 2000's. During the 2006 Lebanon War, IAF Apaches were used again to launch strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Apache saw heavy combat during the 2008 Operation Cast Lead, fighting against Hamas in Gaza. Israeli Apaches have been used to patrol the skies of Gaza, and often carried out strikes there against insurgents.
The IAF AH-64A began to be upgraded to the AH-64Ai standard in 2013, comparable to the AH-64D - which has also been used by the IAF since 2005. The IAF currently operates over 40 AH-64 helicopters in two squadrons.
Devblog
In the early 1970’s, the US Army was keen to adopt a more powerful attack helicopter, with improved anti-tank capabilities and performance over the existing AH-1 Cobra in service at the time. As a result, the Army initiated the ‘Advanced Attack Helicopter’ (AAH) program in November of 1972, requesting design proposals from a number of prominent American helicopter manufacturers.
Subsequently, various designs were proposed by Bell, Boeing, Hughes, Lockheed and Sikorsky. Of all the proposals, the Army picked two designs for further development - the Hughes’ Model 77 (YAH-64) and Bell’s Model 409 (YAH-63).
After conducting their maiden flights on the 30th of September and the 1st of October, 1975, respectively, further testing of the two prototypes showed deficiencies in the fields of survivability and undercarriage stability on Bell’s Model 409. As a result, Bell’s design was excluded from the competition, while Hughes’ design was declared as the winner of the AAH program in 1976.
Following this, work on refining the YAH-64’s design continued throughout the late 1970’s. As part of this further development, the YAH-64 was optimized for the use of the newly developed AGM-114 Hellfire missile, which was in development since 1974. By the end of the ‘70’s and going into the early ‘80’s, the AH-64 was considered ready for full scale production. In 1981, the first pre-production machines were built, while the first production models began rolling off the assembly lines in 1983. Since then, the Apache has been produced in a huge numbers, participating in virtually every scale military operation of the US Army: Panama, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, etc. Israel became the first foreign operator of the Apache named AH-64 Peten, where this helicopter saw intense combat in Lebanon and Gaza strip.
Media
- Store Pack Images
- AH-64A Peten Store Pack Image 04.jpg
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the helicopter;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- encyclopedia page on the helicopter;
- other literature.
| Boeing Aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Aircraft | |
| Fighters | P-26A-33 · P-26A-34 M2 · P-26B-35 |
| Bombers | B-17E · B-17E/L · B-17G-60-VE |
| B-29A-BN | |
| Export | P-26A-34 · B-17G |
| Captured | ▅B-17E |
| Helicopters | |
| Attack | AH-64A · AH-64D |
| Export / Licensed | AH-64A (GR) · ▃AH-64A Peten · AH-64A Peten · ▅AH-64DJP · ▄AH Mk.1 · AHS |
| See Also | Tupolev Design Bureau · Westland Helicopters · Fuji Heavy Industries |
| For Boeing-built ships, see Boeing Marine Branch | |
| USA helicopters | |
|---|---|
| Attack | |
| Black Hawk | MH-60L DAP |
| Choctaw | H-34 |
| Cobra | AH-1F · AH-1G · AH-1Z |
| SuperCobra | AH-1W |
| Kiowa | OH-58D |
| Little Bird | AH-6M |
| Apache | YAH-64 · AH-64A · ▃AH-64A Peten · AH-64A (GR) · AH-64D |
| Utility | |
| Huey | UH-1B · UH-1C · UH-1C XM-30 |
