Boeing $922M contract for Apache helicopter upgrades

WASHINGTON, April 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army has awarded Boeing a $922 million contract for the modification of 117 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters.

The contract will cover block upgrades and modifications for the "remanufactured" AH-64E Apache Longbow attack helicopters, according to a Defense Department contract notice.

Officials from the Army Contracting Command based out of Redstone Arsenal in Alabama will manage the details of the new deal.

Boeing has delivered more than 2,100 Apaches to American and foreign militaries to customers around the world since the aircraft entered production in the mid-1980s, according to a Boeing fact sheet. U.S. Army Apaches have logged more than 3.9 million flight hours total since the first helicopter entered the fleet in 1984, seeing heavy action in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere across the globe.