AH-64D

The AH-64D is a USA tier 4 attack helicopter.

In-Game description
''The Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow or 'Delta' Apache was an AH-64A upgraded with a "glass cockpit", advanced sensors, and the AN/APG-78 'Longbow' milimeter-wave fire-control radar and target acquisition system. It was also fitted with a Radar Frequency Interferometer, both housed in the dome located above the main rotor system. This allowed the Apache Longbow to detect targets from positions of concealment behind obstacles.''

Progression
The AH-64D comes after the AH-64A and costs 350 progression points.

Armament
The AH-64D comes with 3 different armament options:

Tactics
The AH-64D Apache Longbow is a dedicated tank-killer designed to pick off hard targets at range and it shows in game as well. Played properly the aircraft is an ideal platform to quickly devastate enemy emplacements and convoys. This guide will primarily look at it's PvE attributes as it responds to ground targets.

Like the AH-64A before it, Longbow's attribute that sticks out (besides firepower) the most is its speed, as it is one of the fastest aircraft in the game in a straight line. This is great for the "D" version as it plays into it's greatest strength: Static Sniping. Unfortunately this does come at the cost of braking and turning. While the aircraft does turn and stop much better than some of her Russian counterparts (Hind, Havoc), it's forward speed can sneak up on you at the worst moments, leaving you drifting into crashes in emergency situations into walls and power lines. Durability takes a hit here as well. While not as fragile as the Cobra/Viper line, it can't tank hits like a Hind or a Havoc and in a brown alert moment (like a Tunguska Self-Propelled AA gun spawning under you) you may find yourself dying more often than not before you can respond. If coming under fire in this aircraft, immediately stop whatever you are doing and get out to a safe distance before trying to re-engage.

The AH-64D comes with 3 options, but the 3rd option is a clone of the 1st with a few Stinger AA missiles slapped on for a bit more cost. These are moderately ok for PvP, but for PvE purposes the 3rd option (at the time of this writing) has no functional difference as there are no other aircraft to shoot down. As such we will be looking at them as identical with the third being a little more useful in PvP as it can better handle enemy players.

Like the AH-64A before it, all weapons options come with the outstanding M230 30mm chaingun mounted on a turret beneath the craft's chin. This weapon can take all comers, quickly destroying anything unfortunate enough to be in it's target path. This weapon, despite whatever option equipped.. is by far the all-star and will go a long way in keeping you relevant on battlefield long after your missiles and rockets expire.

The 1st weapons option is your standard vanilla American loadout on almost all gunships up to this point: 38 70mm Hydra rockets in 2 pods and 8 Hellfire ATGM's. While up until now, this style load out has been very good and extremely useful. In Generation 4 it will generally be lacking on this platform. The weakness here is the rockets. While they are great at saturating an area where pesky infantry are hiding, that is about the extent of their usefulness as the M230 does literally everything else better. The Longbow isn't a helicopter that likes to get close if it can help it.

The 2nd option drops the relatively non-useful rockets for an extra 8 Hellfire ATGM's. This option transforms the Longbow from "just another gunship" to the (debatably) best pure sniper in the game. The Hellfire is deadly accurate, fast turning and extremely effective... and you now have 16 of them. Pair that up with the practiced sniping ability of the amazing M230 and you are winged/bladed death for static emplacements and convoys alike.

In PvE you are well suited to speeding out to a good remote spot between multiple enemy encampments and cleaning house. Use your M230 on AA emplacements, then use Hellfires on anything with wheels or tracks. Doing it this way you can usually clear 2-3 bases before needing to retreat for a reload. Alternatively, if you want to save missiles, take-out the Tunguska with Hellfires and then cut-down the APCs with long-ranged cannon fire (as your shells will not shatter against these targets, even from the front like some 20mms will do from range), finally finishing the T-90 with the 30mm, as you are more than capable of shredding its top and side armor. Convoys duty is simple as well, park well away, kill off the Tunguska (the one with a fat head on a smaller chassis that spits a steady stream of death); then proceed to pick off the rest of the light vehicles with missiles. Kill the MBT with bullets, to you it is essentially harmless and no use wasting at least 2 missiles on something you can casually gun down as you are flying by it on the way to your next victim.

All in all the Longbow is best suited for cleaning up the hard targets. This means it's best used in early game to knock out the enemy bases before they can over run you with vehicle convoys and late game to deal with rogue vehicle groups. Leave the infantry to scouts and Assault ships like the AH-6 and MH-60s. That's it for this guide, good luck and happy hunting.