In a major decision, the defence ministry on Thursdayapproved procurement of six Apache helicopters along with weapons systems from American giant Boeing at a cost of Rs 4,168 crore for the Army which will be its first fleet of attack choppers.
It will be a follow on order to the deal the BJP Government has signed with Boeing and the US government for 22 Apache helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy-lift choppers in September 2015.
The six ‘AH-64-E’ helicopters will come along with associated equipment, spares and weapons system, defence ministry sources said.
A meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council chaired by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley cleared the long-pending proposal to procure the attack helicopters for the Army which has been pressing for the choppers, the sources said.
