The AH-64E

The AH-64E

The Americans favored small, quick choppers like the AH-1 or the AH-64 which relied on speed and maneuverability. Maximum speed of the AH-64E is up to 300 km/h.

According to open sources, The AH-64E has new composite rotor blades. These are designed to withstand hits from 23 mm anti-aircraft guns. The AH-64E they are built not to suffer damage from typical machine gun fire, there are numerous features to protect the crew, the airframe is designed to withstand hits from guns of up to 12.7 mm caliber. A large flat-plate canopy is fitted with boran armor. Crew members are seated on crash-resistant seats.

Older MANPADS newer generations (FN-6, China), (Verba, Russia) etc, have better flare rejection and may be able to keep the lock on the aircraft engine exhaust. But better countermeasures in better flares will improve the odds in the aircraft's favor.

The FN-6 or Fei Nu-6 is a Chinese air defense missile. In 2013 this shoulder-launched missile emerged during the Syrian Civil War in the hands of rebel fighters. The FN-6 was first used in action and made its first air kills. Maximum interception range is 5.5 km and maximum altitude is 3.8 km.

The Verba features a multispectral optical seeker, this three-channel seeker constitutes ultraviolet, near infrared and mid-infrared sensors. Sensor inputs are cross checked to determine the targets against decoys thereby improving accuracy and avoids countermeasures deployed by targets.

The AH-64E can to fly as low 10 m above the ground. MANPADs take a few seconds to lock on target, if not more. The lower the chopper the faster it flies by and thus the less time you have to effectively lock on target. But this attack helicopter has infra-red suppressing exhaust system and is equipped with chaff and flare dispensers. Bothe of these features combined reduce the chance of being hit by enemy air defense missiles.

On the other hand, many MANPADs has minimum operational height (50 m) and that helicopter would be hard to spot from the top with ground in background.

The US Apache has all sorts of advanced tech and smart weapons systems that allow it to hover several clicks away from the target and launch guided missiles on it. The AH-64E comes with a 30 mm M230 cannon with 1 200 rounds of ammunition, and can carry up to 16 AGM-114R Hellfire 2 anti-tank guided missiles.

This attack helicopter with a Longbow fire control radar. The radar can detect, classify and prioritise 12 targets simultaneously, and can see through the fog an smoke, that foils infra-red or TV sensors. it gives the capability to fire AGM-114R Hellfire-2 anti-tank guided missiles in fire-and-forget mode.