Phillipines 2020: small AH-6i's besides Bell AH-1Zs/AH-64Es?

[Stratofreighter]

https://www.janes.com/article/95960/boe ... hilippines

Boeing discussing AH-6i sale to Philippines

05 May 2020

Boeing is in talks with the Philippines
regarding a potential sale of the company's AH-6i light attack and reconnaissance helicopter,
an official told Jane's on 5 May 2020.

With the US State Department having recently approved
the potential sale of Boeing's AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopter to the Philippine Air Force (PAF),
Terry Jamison, Director, Vertical Lift International Sales,
said that the company is exploring the possibility of selling the AH-6i to the Philippine Army also.

"We are actually working an AH-6 campaign with the Philippines.
The army has expressed an interest in the capability,
and we are answering their questions and providing information on the helicopter,
but I wouldn't want to say anything more than that at this stage," Jamison said.

While the PAF has a twin-engined attack helicopter requirement
for which both the Apache and the Bell AH-1Z Viper were approved for sale on 30 April 2020,
the army is looking for a single-engined light attack helicopter.

The service does not currently field a helicopter type,
but any AH-6 procurement would likely replace 12 ageing MD 500MGs now flown by the PAF.

The MD 500 is also a 'Little Bird' derivate of the same Hughes OH-6 Cayuse (Hughes Model 369 in its civilian version)
that spawned the AH-6.

While both the AH-64E and AH-6i would make highly capable stand-alone solutions for both the air force and army respectively,
Jamison noted the synergies between the two platforms.

The AH-6i is equipped with the same avionics and human-machine interface (HMI) as the larger AH-64E.

The AH-6i and the AH-64E share 83% of their mission software,
so much that Boeing has previously stated that "when the AH-6i wakes up, it thinks it's a baby Apache".

Having two such closely aligned airframes would provide benefits for support, training, and operations.

https://www.janes.com/article/95960/boe ... hilippines