Milestones

22/04/1998 First airframe (DU0001/ZJ166) placed on Mesa production line
25/09/1998 First flight of DU0001 as N9219G, and official acceptance date
28/09/1998 Official roll-out at Mesa of DU0001 and handing over to WHL
08/06/1999 First military flight of a WAH-64
29/08/1999 The first fuselage kit for Westlands final assembly line (DU0007/ZJ173) delivered to Yeovil
May 2000 First delivery to MoD
18/07/2000 First flight of first Westlands built aircraft (ZJ173)
31/07/2000 First delivery of a Westlands built aircraft (ZJ173) to MoD
December 2000 Formal In-Service Date (ISD) achieved on time. This date marked the delivery of 9 aircraft to the AAC
13/01/2003 3 months of cold weather testing begin in Sweden using ZJ188
27/03/2003 Boeing delivered the 67th and final UK AH-64D Apache kit ahead of schedule at their Mesa, Arizona facility
01/04/2003 The AAC's Attack Helicopter Training Unit at Middle Wallop is given the "number plate" of 673 Sqn
08/06/2003 First delivery to 9 Rgt at Dishforth
01/09/2003 Conversion-to-type training commences at Middle Wallop by 656 Sqn
15/12/2003 Military Aircraft Release 6a clearance is achieved. This accepted the embodiment of several elements of Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aids Suite (HIDAS) and an additional software release into the aircraft
20/02/2004 Conversion-to-type training completed by 656 Sqn
30/03/2004 Ship Operating Limit Trials on HMS Ocean were completed successfully
21/07/2004 The 67th and final Apache AH1 (ZJ233) was officially handed over to the MoD at Farnborough Airshow
14/10/2004 Initial Operating Capability (IOC) is declared by MoD
19/01/2005 The first delivery of aircraft to the Apache's main operating base of Wattisham took place when ZJ194 was delivered in from Shawbury as "AA292". This aircraft will be allocated to 3 Rgt, 662 Sqn.
12/04/2005 3 Regiment at Wattisham flew their first mission today using ZJ190 as "Army Air 307"
25/05/2005 With exercise "Eagle's Strike" well under way, the Apache's official entry into the Army's inventory is announced
May 2006 656 Sqn (part of 9 Rgt at Dishforth) deploy to Afghanistan under Operation Herrick. This is the AAC Apaches first operational deployment.
June 2007 4 Rgt at Wattisham start flying regular training missions, whilst the first aircraft from 9 Rgt at Dishforth move to Wattisham.