The American corporation Boeing held informal talks with the Scandinavian countries to create a single attack helicopter in the interest of their armed forces. This was said by Terry Jamieson, the company's director of foreign sales of helicopters, in an interview with the information and analytical group Janes.
He added that the company has already discussed developing a single attack helicopter with Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. According to him, there is potential for the creation of a consortium to pool the resources of these countries in the development of such a rotorcraft.
Jamieson emphasized that these talks are informal. Boeing has not yet received written requests for the production of the already mentioned military machine.
There are no attack helicopters in the fleets of the Scandinavian countries. According to Jamieson, these countries are planning to get a similar type of helicopter based on the Boeing-built AH-64E Apache Guardian helicopter. It was developed specifically to destroy enemy armored vehicles beyond line of sight. Apaches were intended for combat use in the European theater of war against an enemy equal in power to the United States.
According to Jamison, AH-64E buyers are actually investing in the US military's Apache improvement program. In the 40 years that these rotorcraft have served in the US military, they have undergone deep modernization twice.
The aircraft manufacturing corporation is also looking at Helsinki as a potential customer for the AH-6i Little Bird light attack helicopters. They can replace the aging MD 500 rotorcraft in the fleet of the Finnish armed forces, and also increase the combat power of the Finnish ground forces by equipping the helicopter with Hellfire anti-tank missiles.
Jamieson said that in the context of the conflict in Ukraine, the means to destroy enemy armored vehicles must be a high priority for all NATO members. He also noted that the AH-6i and MD 500 are based on the same aircraft model, the Hughes Model 369.
Seven MD 500D helicopters, which entered service in 1983, and another five MD 500Es, which have been in the army fleet since 1999, are in service in Finland. Despite the modernization program launched in 2020, the aging helicopters need to be replaced.