
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 20, 1990                   TAG: 9004200756
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

HIGH-TECH HELICOPTERS GIVING ARMY PROBLEMS

They were considered six of the best Apache helicopters in the Army fleet, but during the U.S. invasion of Panama, electronic parts in the all-weather aircraft failed to work when wet.

Congressional investigators described for Congress on Thursday an array of problems that have plagued the attack helicopter in both Army operations and the incursion into Panama last December.

Citing those flaws, the General Accounting Office said the Army should not buy the last 132 Apache helicopters as planned and use the $1.49 billion already appropriated to repair the aircraft in the fleet.

"Why buy more headaches?" Richard Davis, director of the GAO's Army Issues Group, told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. "Use the money to operate and fix existing Apaches."

Army Secretary Michael P.W. Stone said the service did not dispute the GAO findings but is making progress in rectifying the problems.

The Apache is "the finest attack helicopter in the world, an aircraft that has given the United States a capability that is the envy of the world," said Stone, formerly the Army's top acquisition executive.

The GAO reported that during the Panama invasion, hydraulic failure grounded one aircraft, a failed fuel cell stopped another and a target detection system forced yet another to return to the base.

Complicating matters were the helicopters' sensitive electronic components that failed to work when rain and humidity caused a buildup of moisture. Troops were forced to dry the parts in kitchen ovens, the GAO said.

"The Betty Crocker approach to Apache maintenance," quipped Rep. Gerry Sikorski, D-Minn., a member of the subcommittee on oversight and investigations.

The Army plans to buy 807 Apaches from McDonnell Douglas Corp. at a cost of $12 billion. Of that total, the service had received 534 Apaches from its first delivery in 1986 through last December.

Investigators said the helicopter could perform all assigned missions an average of 49 percent of the time, a low rate for an Army helicopter.

In addition, the GAO found that as the Apache flight hours increased, its ability to perform decreased.

by CNB