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US Army AH-64E Apache Guardians started qualifications with Amphibious Assault Ship USS Peleliu

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Naval Forces News - USA
 
 
 
US Army AH-64E Apache Guardians started qualifications with Amphibious Assault Ship USS Peleliu
 
AH-64E Apache Guardians from 1st Armed Reconnaissance Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, conducted deck landing qualifications aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) off the coast of Hawaii, July 19, as part of the Navy’s Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2014.
     
AH-64E Apache Guardians from 1st Armed Reconnaissance Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, conducted deck landing qualifications aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) off the coast of Hawaii, July 19, as part of the Navy’s Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2014.
The deck landing qualifications, a first for the E model of the Apache, are one of several maritime training events the Apache unit participated in to take advantage of terrain not available to them in their home station at Fort Carson, Colorado. (U.S. Army photo by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Mark Leung, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade/Released)
     
According to Chief Warrant Officer 3 Matthew Gottschling, a company instructor pilot with 1-25 ARB, before the deck landing qualifications and other maritime training could take place for the pilots, instructors were trained and certified through the U.S. Army Evaluations and Standards Department.

“With all the deck training, the reason it’s interesting and different is because the Apache is a land-based piece of equipment,” said Gottschling. “By training us how to do the ship landings on a larger ship, it enables us to forward project our force by doing the cross training with the Navy and the Marines.”

A primary goal of the joint training is to build greater maritime flexibility for the Pacific joint commander to utilize when determining capabilities during mission planning.

This is the first time the E model of the Apache has conducted deck landing qualifications, and the event was even more historical as this is the first time any Apache model has deployed to Hawaii or participated in a Rim of the Pacific exercise.
     
AH-64E Apache Guardians from 1st Armed Reconnaissance Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, conducted deck landing qualifications aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) off the coast of Hawaii, July 19, as part of the Navy’s Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2014.
The amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) is underway in close formation as one of forty-two ships and submarines representing 15 international partner nations during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2014. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Shannon Renfroe/Released)
     
The last built of the five ships in the Tarawa class, USS Peleliu (LHA5) provides the Navy/Marine Corps team with one of the largest, fastest, and most versatile ships in the history of the amphibious warfare, capable of launching a coordinated air and sea attack from one platform. The primary mission of Peleliu is to embark and deploy a balanced payload of combat-ready Marines, along with their equipment and supplies needed for an assult, and land them ashore by helicopter and amphibious craft. This two-pronged capability of vertical launch from a carrier-type flight deck and amphibious operation with much greater speed and flexibility than previously possible.

Displacement 39,967 tons fully loaded
Size Length: 820 ft, Beam: 106 ft, Draft: 25.9 ft
Main Machinery Two combustion engineering boilers; Two Westinghouse turbines w/ 70,000 shp; two shaft. bow thruster w/ 900 horsepower
Speed 24 Knots
Range 10,000 miles at 20 knots
Armament Two MK 49 RAM launchers; Two Phalanx 20mm CIWS mounts; Three .50 caliber machine guns; Four 25mm MK 38 chain guns
Compliment 1065 officers/enlisted