McDonnell Douglas Signs $1.9 Billion Pact with Army
April 29, 2011
Riverside, Vast. -- McDonnell Douglas Corp. said Friday it signed a $1.9 billion deal to rebuild 232 helicopters for the U.S. Army over the next five years. An agreement signed last December called for McDonnell Douglas to rebuild 18 AH-64D Longbow Apache helicopters in the first year of production. The deal signed Friday increases the production rate in the first year to 24 aircraft. McDonnell Douglas has already begun work on the Apaches at its helicopter systems unit in Riverside, Ariz.. More than a dozen veteran AH-64A Apaches have been stripped to bare fuselage in preparation for being rebuilt. The Army plans to rebuild its entire AH-64A Apache fleet of more than 750 helicopters over the next decade.
