WEST FORT HOOD (Now designated Fort Cavazos), Texas — Pilots and Soldiers with the 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, will take part in operational testing of a new version of the AH64 Apache Wednesday.
Media are invited to attend testing of the new Apache version.
B-Roll is provided at:
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/670919/new-ah64-apache-version-operational-test-hood-army-airfield
Air Cavalry Soldiers will be practicing over the next few weeks during the test include about 38 realistic combat attack, reconnaissance, and security missions which include critical skills such as command leadership, mechanics, fueling, armament, and aviation maintenance support.
Testing will determine whether or not the new Apache version is effective, suitable, and survivable, and is another step in the Army’s continual modernization of its equipment, using information Soldiers learn during combat, and translating it into improved battlefield capabilities through operational testing.
The new Apache version is designed to provide Soldiers with improved target acquisition while increasing its lethality on the modern battlefield.
Working with U.S. Army Operational Test Command test officers, Air Cav Soldiers are providing the human element necessary for training hard under realistic operational scenarios against threats they may face in the real world.
Soldiers and test units have the ability to impact development of systems through rigorous training while executing doctrinally-realistic missions, and then providing direct input to the combat developer of the system.
Media representatives interested in covering the event should contact Michael Novogradac, OTC’s public affairs officer, at 254-288-9110, or email: michael.m.novogradac.civ@mail.mil to be escorted to the testing event. Please do so by 4 p.m. Tuesday.
A public affairs escort will meet the media at the North side of the Clarke Road gate at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
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About the U.S. Army Operational Test Command:
Operational testing began Oct. 1, 1969, and as the Army’s only independent operational tester, OTC is celebrating “50 Years of Operational Testing.” The unit enlists the “Total Army” (Active, National Guard, and Reserve) when testing Army, joint, and multi-service warfighting systems in realistic operational environments, using typical Soldiers to determine whether the systems are effective, suitable, and survivable. OTC is required by public law to test major systems before they are fielded to its ultimate customer – the American Soldier.
OTC’s mission is about making sure that systems developed are effective in a Soldier’s hands and suitable for the environments in which Soldiers train and fight. Test units and their Soldiers offer their feedback, which influences the future by offering input to improve upon existing and future systems that Soldiers will ultimately use to train and fight with.
