Apache: Battle Tank In The Sky

For aerial assaults, the Apache helicopter is the Army's main battle tank in the sky, says CBS News Correspondent Bob McNamara. Twenty-four of these helicopters were sent to aid in the NATO attack against Serbia.

With a crew of two - a pilot and copilot gunner - this war machine delivers an arsenal of weapons, from rockets and 30-mm shells to Hellfire laser-guided missiles capable of hitting targets nearly 5 miles away.

U.S. Army Maj. Steve Boylan says the weapons systems make the helicopter very deadly, enabling the Apache to "completely destroy a tank."

Developed near the end of the Cold War, when the Soviet Union still posed the most likely threat to the West, the Apache was designed to be an all-weather, all-terrain antitank weapon.

It saw its first combat in the invasion of Panama, and later in the Persian Gulf.

Lt. Col. Shannon Davis, 3rd Armored Cavalry, says "It's not designed to be a very speedy helicopter. It's designed to carry a large weapons load, very maneuverable."

Sixteen combat-ready Apaches are based at Ft. Carson, Col., the largest aviation squadron in the U.S. Army.

Here, after Apache flight crews are paired up, they undergo months of training and battle drills over both desert and mountain terrain.

And nighttime exercises - when the Apaches operate with infrared - provide the crews with the most valuable lessons they will learn.

Davis says, "The night is really the friend of the Apache if you employ it at night and the weather conditions are correct. With the right amount of planning, the night can be a great asset to you in this helicopter."

The Apache also comes equipped with a helmet display unit, which is connected to the weapons. Boylan said the unit gives the gunner the ability to aim the ApacheÂ's weapons with the movement of his head, which makes the helicopter a "very effective and lethal weapon."

With all the Apache's sophistication, pilots say it can be a high-maintenance machine with large ground-support crews needed to keep it flying and fitted for battle. The Apache price tag is about $14 million each.

The Albanian government has given its approval for the 24 Apache helicopter gunships on its territory for missions over Kosovo, but the Army said Thursday it will take more than a week to get them there from a base in Germany because of time needed to assemble support personnel and ground rockets, and the strain refugee relief is putting on the air transport system in Europe.