Indian Army to get its own heavy-duty Apache attack helicopters after a long wait

After a long wait, the Indian Army is finally getting heavy-duty six Apache attack helicopters.

The defence ministry cleared the acquisition of six Apache helicopters, which will be armed with Hellfire and Stinger missiles at the tune of Rs 4, 168 crore.

The army was in a tussle with the Indian Air Force (IAF) over the last several years and had sought government's approval for acquisition of 11 Apache helicopters from the US as "a follow-on contract" to the Rs 13,952 crore deal inked for 22 such choppers for the IAF in September 2015.

But after stiff opposition from the IAF, the Arun Jaitley-led defence acquisitions council (DAC) cleared the Army's whittled down proposal for the six AH-64E Apache helicopters, which are manufactured by Boeing.

The DAC also cleared a proposal to procure two gas turbine engines for naval ships at a cost of Rs 490 crore.