Operation Flyswatter examined the AH-64E Model 6 Apache for its networked, information linked fight capabilities in opposition to quite a lot of uneven unmanned aerial threats.
The U.S. Military demonstrated the AH-64E Apache Model 6’s (V6) potential to detect, monitor and defeat unmanned aerial techniques (UAS) throughout an enormous live-fire occasion, dubbed Operation Flyswatter, at MCAS (Marine Corps Air Station) New River, North Carolina. Though this occurred on Aug. 12, 2025, the service solely disclosed it in a press launch on Nov. 18.
Apache crews from the South Carolina Military Nationwide Guard (SCANG) employed all the helicopter’s 4 major weapons in opposition to the drones – the AGM-179 JAGM, AGM-114 Hellfire II, the APKWS II and its chin-mounted M230 chain machine gun. The Military specified totally different modes, ways and the outcomes of the combos’ use to shoot down 13 drones out of the 14 engagements.
A picture reveals an AH-64E with two M261 19-round rocket pods, in addition to an AGM-179 JAGM and the AGM-114R Hellfire II on an M299 launcher. The helicopter can also be geared up with a Longbow radar, though the V6 Apache will also be geared up with a sensor and array-packed mast for MUM-T (Man-Unmanned Teaming) operations with drones.
In one other picture, three Apaches are seen flying at a distance, with the one within the rear geared up with the MUMT-X mast. A goal drone, by one of many a number of business companions that participated within the occasion, can also be seen being ready on a ground-based catapult/rail-type launcher.
Helicopters vs drones: a battlefield actuality
The Apache has beforehand used the Hellfire throughout the Purple Sands 24-2 train in Saudi Arabia in September 2024. On the time, the Military solely stated the Apache fired the Hellfire at a small-UAS menace, however no info was launched on the observe drone employed.
U.S. Navy MH-60R Seahawk have additionally used the weapon in real-world circumstances to convey down Houthi projectiles. Israeli Apaches have used the M230 chain weapons to shoot down Hezbollah’s drones within the north.
The utility of each the Apache assault helicopter and Hellfire for counter-drone roles has been confirmed. The Apache had already been cleared to function the APKWS II, equally to the F-16 Preventing Falcon, F-15E Strike Eagle and A-10 Warthog.
Superior Footage from earlier at present, displaying an AH-64 “Apache” Assault Helicopter with the Israeli Air Drive, utilizing its M230 Chain Gun to Intercept a Hezbollah Drone to the South of Haifa. pic.twitter.com/ca5vFKDBax
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) November 2, 2024
At an excellent broader degree, helicopters have been used to shoot down drones with door weapons. The truth is, French NH90 Caiman naval helicopters and Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopters introduced down Houthi and Russian Shahed-type Geran-2 assault drones, respectively.
EUNAVFOR ASPIDES 🇪🇺 | Interception par l’hélicoptère de la frégate 🇫🇷 d’un drone aérien en provenance du Yémen menaçant le trafic maritime civil en mer Rouge.➡️ La priorité: assurer la liberté de navigation et la sûreté maritime de Suez à Ormuz pic.twitter.com/KQ8DD17hRL
— Armée française – Opérations militaires (@EtatMajorFR) March 20, 2024
🔥🔥The crew of the Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter is chasing and capturing down the russian-iranian heavy kamikaze drone by hitting its tail part with fireplace from an M134 “Minigun” machine gun pic.twitter.com/410Vr3zrA9
— Angelica Shalagina🇺🇦 (@angelshalagina) November 13, 2025
Apaches vs drones at Flyswatter
The press launch stated: “The train, led by the Apache Challenge Administration Workplace (PM Apache), introduced collectively Military, Nationwide Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, and business companions to validate the Apache’s Model 6 (V6) software program and weapons package deal in opposition to the quickly evolving drone menace.”
A distinguishing function of the V6 subvariant of the AH-64E Apache Guardian is a sensor and array-packed mast for MUM-T (Man-Unmanned Teaming) operations with drones, known as MUMT-X, which might change the Longbow radar. It’s unclear how this technique was employed in a C-UAS situation.
SCANG’s Apache crews’ mission profiles adopted for the detection and engagement of a number of UAS “efficiently achieved 13 kills out of 14 engagements,” proving the Apache’s utility in opposition to drone threats. Chief Warrant Officer 5 (CW5) Daniel York, PM Apache New Tools Coaching (NET) Staff Supervisor stated: “The Apache can interact each small and bigger drones with a variety of munitions, underscoring its operational flexibility and fight relevance.”
The Military listed the weapons, modes, ways and their outcomes:
JAGM guided by Hearth Management Radar: This implies the AH-64E Apache Guardian managed the JAGM with its Longbow radar after launch. The JAGM has the identical kind issue because the Hellfire and is produced on the identical manufacturing line, combining the millimeter-wave radar and laser designation in a single missile. On the Hellfire, the 2 seekers can be found on totally different variants.
Radio Frequency (RF) and Semi-Energetic Laser (SAL) III Hellfire missiles utilizing each radar and laser designations: This seems to trace at two totally different variants of the Hellfire getting used, the AGM-114L and the AGM-114, respectively.
Hydra-70 rockets with Superior Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) steering, putting three of 4 UAS, with buddy-lase ways proving particularly efficient: the Apaches employed the APKWS together with the buddy lasing tactic, with one helicopter performing because the shooter and the second, the buddy, designating the goal and lasing it till impression.
30 mm M789 high-explosive dual-purpose rounds, reaching close-range kills at underneath 300 meters: These rounds are the usual difficulty 30 mm munitions for the Apache’s M230 chain gun, which could have been fired to destroy massive drones and disable them instantly.
The largest key consequence from the train, based on the service, was the “13 kills in 14 engagements, demonstrating a excessive chance of hit/kill.” One other was validation that Hyperlink 16 information sharing and radar cueing considerably reduces sensor-to-shooter timelines.
CW5 Joel Gooch, State Standardization Pilot, stated that Operation Flyswatter demonstrated the Apache’s potential to hunt drones with “radar and laser-guided missiles, laser-guided rockets, and the 30mm, whereas leveraging each EO/IR [Electro-Optical/Infra-Red] and radar sensors.” The Hyperlink 16 integration converts it right into a “true cellular air protection platform, filling a spot that floor techniques alone can’t cowl,” he stated.
Military’s tenth CAB receives its AH-64E V6 Apache
In a Nov. 18 launch, whereas saying the tenth Fight Aviation Brigade’s transition to the AH-64Ev6, the Military stated the sub-variant “replaces the Brigade’s long-serving AH-64D Apaches” and presents “highly effective engines, composite rotor blades and extra succesful integration techniques.”
The Military highlighted the networked capabilities of the brand new Apache: “The AH 64E is a network-centric weapon system, geared up with superior avionics that enable it to share information seamlessly throughout […] floor, air, area and cyber [domains], [for] each joint and floor forces,” stated the service.
“The AH-64Ev6’s most revolutionary function is its manned-unmanned teaming functionality [that can] straight obtain video feeds and management unmanned aerial techniques of the long run. This will increase the Apache’s operational attain and situational consciousness, permitting the plane to scout for threats from a standoff distance whereas remaining in a coated place,” the discharge added.
