File talk:AH-64D Apache Longbow.jpg
the apache in the image is not the D model, it does not have the optics unit above the main rotor.
The Apache was upgraded to the D model "Longbow" by adding the optical targeting system usually carried by an unarmed spotter helo attached to Apache units as a support aircraft. Similar to the spotter in a two man Marine corps sniper team.
By equipping Apache with its own optics and target aquisition package the need for spotter craft has been eliminated.
- This is right I think. All apache variants have their own tads in the sensor suite on the nose, but only the D models/longbows have the mm wave radar & additional optics on the mast above the rotors.
-- The AH-64A carried its own sensor suite in the nose, the "TADS" referred to previously: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_Acquisition_and_Designation_System,_Pilot_Night_Vision_System. The AH-64D's main improvement was the "Longbow" Fire Control Radar, which is the pancake above the rotor. This is the most obvious distinguishing feature of an AH-64D, if it's got the pancake it's an AH-64D. However, the Longbow radar is removable. In Afghanistan, and in the later years of the Iraq War, there are no armored vehicles for the radar to track, so it's convenient to remove the radars. So even if it hasn't got the Longbow radar on top, it might be an AH-64D, not necessarily an AH-64A. The other differences in appearance are less obvious: AH-64D has a "chin" that curves and meets beneath the TADS, it holds some of the extra gear the AH-64D has. The AH-64A's "chin" isn't rounded, but ends in wedge shapes short of the TADS. Furthermore the AH-64A tends to have a "spire" on top of the rotor, whereas the sans Longbow FCR AH-64Ds don't. Compare:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Army_AH-64_prepares_to_launch_from_USS_Nassau_Feb_2005.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RSAF_AH-64D_Longbow_Apache.jpg
As you can see, although there's no Longbow radar on top, the "chin" meets beneath the TADS and there's no "spire" on the main rotor. As the note says, it's in Iraq; the Longbow has been removed, but it's definitely an AH-64D. I thought I'd leave this note here for anyone who was similarly confused by an AH-64D without the most obvious distinguishing feature. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.148.141.47 (talk) 19:14, 14 November 2012 (UTC)
