AIRSPACE REVIEW (airspace-review.com) – Departemen Luar Negeri Amerika Serikat telah mengumumkan persetujuannya untuk kemungkinan penjualan helikopter AH-64E Apache Guardian dan perlengkapannya Kuwait senilai 4 miliar dolar AS (USD).
Badan Kerja Sama Keamanan Pertahanan (DSCA) telah mengirimkan sertifikasi yang diperlukan untuk memberi tahu Kongres tentang kemungkinan penjualan ini.
Penjualan armada heli AH-64E kepada Kuwait diharapkan dapat meningkatkan kemampuan negeri itu untuk menghadapi ancaman saat ini dan di masa depan dengan meningkatkan dukungan udara dekat, pengintaian bersenjata, dan kemampuan misi perang antitank negara.
Disebutkan, sebelumnya Kuwait telah mengajukan permintaan untuk membeli 8 AH-64E Apache dan meng-upgrade enam belas dari AH-64D Apache Longbow Attack Helicopter mereka ke konfigurasi AH-64E.
Baca Juga: Amerika setujui penjualan 6 AH-64E dan 6 AH-1Z, Filipina tinggal pilih
Berikut daftar pengajuan dari Kuwait yang diumumkan oleh DSCA dengan taksiran penjualan mencapai 4 miliar USD:
Eight (8) AH-64E Apache Helicopters (new procurement); sixteen (16) AH-64E Apache Helicopters (remanufacture); twenty-two (22) T700-GE 701D engines; thirty-six (36) remanufactured T700-GE 701D engines; twenty-seven (27) AN/AAR-57 Counter Missile Warning Systems (CMWS); eighteen (18) Embedded Global Position Systems with Inertial Navigation (EGI) with Multi-Mode Receiver (MMR); thirty-six (36) remanufactured EGIs with MMR; eight (8) AN/ASQ-170(V) Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sight/AN/AAQ-11 Pilot Night Vision Sensor (MTADS/PNVS); seventeen (17) AN/APG-78 Longbow Fire Control Radars (FCR) with Radar Electronics Units (REU); seventeen (17) APR-48B Modernized Radar Frequency Interferometers (M-RFI); eighteen (18) M299 AGM-114 Hellfire Missile Launchers; four (4) remanufactured M299 AGM-114 Hellfire Missile Launchers; eighteen (18) Hydra 70 (70mm) 2.75 Inch Rocket M260 Rocket Launchers; four (4) remanufactured Hydra 70 (70mm) 2.75 Inch Rocket M260 Rocket Launchers; nine (9) M230El 30mm Chain Gun M139 Area Weapons System (AWS) Guns; two (2) remanufactured M230El 30mm Chain Gun M139 AWS Guns; one (1) Longbow Crew Trainers (LCT); and one (1) remanufactured LCT. Also included are fifty-four (54) AN/ARC‑201 non-COMSEC Very-High Frequency/Frequency Modulation (VHF/FM) radios; fifty-four (54) Ultra‑High Frequency (UHF) radios (AN/ARC‑231 or MXF 4027); twenty-eight (28) Identify Friend or Foe Transponders (APX 123 or APX 119); twenty-seven (27) IDM 401 (Improved Data Modem); twenty-seven (27) Link 16 Datalinks; twenty-seven (27) AN/APR-39D (V)2 Radar Warning Receivers; twenty-seven (27) AN/AVR-2 Laser Warning Receivers; twenty-seven (27) Infrared Countermeasures Dispensers (2 flares, 1 chaff); nine (9) ASN-157 Doppler Radar Velocity Sensors; nine (9) AN/ARN-149 (V)3 Automatic Direction Finders (ADF); sixteen (16) remanufactured AN/ARN-149 (V)3 ADFs; nine (9) AN/APN-209 Radar Altimeters; twenty-seven (27) AN/ARN-153 Tactical Airborne Navigation (TACAN) systems; sixteen (16) Manned-Unmanned Teaming International (MUM-Ti) (UPR) Air to Air to Ground Data Link Systems; twenty-four (24) MUM-Ti (Ground) Air to Air to Ground Data Link Systems; twenty-four (24) 100 gallon Internal Auxiliary Fuel Systems (IAFS); twenty-four (24) 125 gallon Reduced Capacity Crashworthy External Fuel Systems (RCEFS); two (2) IAFS Spares; two (2) IAFS Publications; six (6) IAFS Ground Support Equipment (GSE) Apache Magazine and Auxiliary Tank Transfer Systems (AMATTS); five (5) IDM Software Loader Verifiers (SLV); training devices; helmets; simulators; generators; transportation; wheeled vehicles and organizational equipment; spare and repair parts; support equipment; tools and test equipment; technical data and publications; personnel training and training equipment; U.S. government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics support.
Deplu AS mengatakan, usulan penjualan peralatan dan dukungan ini tidak akan mengubah keseimbangan dasar militer di wilayah kawasan.
Baca juga: Boeing siap pasok Bangladesh dengan heli serang AH-64E Apache
Kontraktor utama yang telah ditunjuk untuk menangani proyek ini adalah Boeing Company, Mesa, Arizona; Lockheed Martin, Orlando, Florida; General Electric, Cincinnati Ohio; Sistem dan Sensor Misi Lockheed Martin, Owego, New York; Perusahaan Perseroan Terbatas Longbow, Orlando; dan Raytheon, Tucson, Arizona.
Selain itu, Departemen Luar Negeri AS juga telah menyetujui penjualan Suku Cadang Sistem untuk Konfigurasi Patriot 3+ dan peralatan terkait ke Kuwait dengan nilai taksiran mencapai 200 juta USD.
Roni Sontani