In message , Leadfoot
writes
What I heard was that they had done everything on paper to navalise the
AH-64 and then made an offer to the Marines but that was as far as it
went, PAPER.

The UK Apaches are getting qualified for maritime ops offf HMS Ocean or
the CVSs, but that's not full marinisation: rather, detachment as part
of a Tailored Air Group for a specific mission.

My understanding was as far as navalisation goes it was easier to stick
with the Cobra and upgrade the weapons and avionics than to make an an
Apache that could withstand long periods in a salt water environment.
I'm guessing but the blades were probably the biggest hang up. You'd
have to mod them to fold and make sure they could handle a salt water
environment.

I think the Apache's blades fold (for air transport, at least) but as
you point out, getting the airframe able to stand up to prolonged
exposure to salt spray is a seriously non-trivial issue.

Again with UK experience, we deploy Joint Force Harrier GR.7s to sea for
specific deployments, but for a committed force we wanted the Sea
Harrier; which wasn't just a case of putting a radar in the nose, but
some surprisingly wide-ranging structural changes such as getting rid of
all the magnesium components (while light and stiff, I'm assured it rots
very fast in a maritime environment)

--
The nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its
warriors, will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done
by fools.
-Thucydides


Paul J. Adam - mainbox{at}jrwlynch[dot]demon(dot)codotuk